Brief of Amici Juvenile Law Center, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, et al. Supporting Respondent Jerri Smiley (full list of amici in appendix to attached brief).

Argument: Miller v. Alabama reaffirms the U.S. Supreme Court's recognition that children are categorically less culpable than adults. The U.S. Supreme Court's jurisprudence that children are different than adults in constitutionally relevant ways is not limited to a specific crime or sentence. Because of adolescents' reduced culpability, Missouri's armed criminal action statute cannot be mechanically applied to juvenile offenders. Incarcerating juvenile offenders in adult facilities diminishes public safety and places youth at risk of severe harm.

Racial disparities in the juvenile justice system.

NACDL fully supports the concept that juveniles are different than adults and should be treated as such. NACDL encourages legislators to promote polices that evaluate juvenile family history and brain development prior to developing legislation that could in effect have profound implications on a juvenile's future.

First enacted in 1974, the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) embodies the federal government’s best efforts to improve juvenile justice systems at the state and local levels.

Of the 2,500 people in the United States who have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes committed before they were 18, two-thirds of them are concentrated in just five states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Louisiana, California, and Florida. There are thousands more children across the country sentenced to “virtual life” sentences of 60, 70, 80, or 100 or more years.

During the next 18 months, the work of NACDL’s Juvenile Justice Committee will focus on the landmark decision in Graham v. Florida, in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that adolescents who commit non-homicide offenses cannot receive life without the possibility of parole (LWOP), and must be given a meaningful opportunity for release.

Last summer, NACDL members completed a survey on the impact of allegations of gang affiliation on bail decisions and pretrial detention. The survey was inspired by a case in which a 16-year-old — considered an adult in the New York criminal justice system — was jailed on a first-arrest misdemeanor charge when a prosecutor requested high bail at arraignment, alleging that the youth was in the gang database.

The United States has over 2,500 youth offenders serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. The rest of the world has zero.

People exiting the custody of the criminal justice system encounter substantial challenges in gaining employment, finding housing, and accessing medical and mental health care. This article explores areas in need of attention and reform so that young people who have been adjudicated delinquent or convicted of a crime are not punished subsequently by other systems they encounter.

President John Wesley Hall's letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leadership regarding Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2009 S. 678.

President John Wesley Hall's letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leadership regarding Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2009 S. 678.

President John Wesley Hall's letter to the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security leadership regarding Juvenile Justice Accountability and Improvement Act of 2009 H.R. 2289.

Advocacy Call on Juvenile Life Without Parole

Advocacy Call on Montgomery v. Louisiana

Brief of Juvenile Law Center, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, et al. as amici curiae on Behalf of Petitioners (full list of amici in appendix to attached brief).

Argument: Miller reaffirms the U.S. Supreme Court’s recognition that children are fundamentally different from adults and categorically less deserving of the harshest forms of punishments. Miller applies retroactively.