Supreme Court: Eighth Amendment Prohibits Schemes of Mandatory Life without Parole for Juveniles -- Washington, DC (June 25, 2012) – The U.S. Supreme Court today announced that a scheme requiring mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, regardless of the nature of the offense. 

Cal. Supreme Court Holds 110-Year Sentence For Juvenile Defendant Was ‘Cruel and Unusual’ -- Washington, DC (Aug. 16, 2012) – The California Supreme Court today held today that sentencing a juvenile to imprisonment – a term of years – with a parole eligibility date that falls past his natural life expectancy violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. 

Age Does Matter in Juvenile Interrogations - Washington, DC (June 16, 2011) – More than two decades of exonerations have shown that pressure from police too often results in people confessing to crimes they have never committed. There is no reason to believe that children and adolescents would be immune to such pressures; common sense tells us the opposite is true.

Defense Bar Lauds Supreme Court for Abolishing ‘Life Without Parole' for Children and Teens - Washington, DC (May 17, 2010) – The Constitution prohibits imposition of a sentence of life without parole on a juvenile offender who did not commit a homicide, the U.S. Supreme Court decided today. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) joined with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice as amici curiae urging the Court to overturn the sentences...