Because 77 of those offenders are serving sentences imposed in Florida and the other 52 are imprisoned in just 10 States and in the federal system, it appears that only 12 jurisdictions nationwide in fact impose life without parole sentences on juvenile nonhomicide offenders, while 26 States and the District of Columbia do not impose them despite apparent statutory authorization.
To me, the statement above was perhaps the most compelling part of today’s Supreme Court opinion in Graham v. Florida, in which the Court held that the Eighth Amendment bars life imprisonment for juvenile defendants whose crimes do not involve death. The fact that such a high percentage of juveniles sentenced to life are in Florida doesn’t necessarily surprise me, but it does sadden me.
The significance of the case is clear: no longer will juveniles be subject to sentences of life without parole. What our communities are going to do to integrate these individuals back into society is another question—one that Florida is going to have to address quite soon, apparently.
