Podcast appearances and mentions of Montgomery V Louisiana

On January 25, 2016, the Supreme Court decided Montgomery v. Louisiana. Petitioner Montgomery was 17 years old in 1963, when he killed a deputy sheriff in Louisiana and received a mandatory sentence of life without parole. In 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama that mandatory life without parole for juvenile homicide offenders violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual punishments.” Montgomery sought state collateral relief, arguing that Miller rendered his mandatory life-without-parole sentence illegal. The trial court denied his motion, and his application for a supervisory writ was denied by the Louisiana Supreme Court, which had previously held that Miller does not have retroactive effect in cases on state collateral review. -- Montgomery’s case presents the U.S. Supreme Court with two questions: (1) Whether the Court has jurisdiction to decide whether the Supreme Court of Louisiana properly refused to give retroactive effect to Miller; and (2) Whether Miller adopts a new substantive rule that applies retroactively on collateral review to people condemned as juveniles to die in prison. -- By a vote of 6-3 the Supreme Court answered both questions in the affirmative, reversing the judgment of the Louisiana Supreme Court and remanding the case. Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court, in which the Chief Justice and Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan joined. Justice Scalia filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Thomas and Alito joined. Justice Thomas also filed a dissenting opinion. -- To discuss the case, we have Zachary Bolitho, who is Assistant Professor at Campbell University School of Law.

On January 25, 2016, in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in Montgomery v. Louisiana that Miller v. Alabama would apply retroactively. These two cases concern the unconstitutionality of juveniles being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. On Thursday, February 11, 2016, guests Marsha Levick, Deputy Director and Chief Counsel of the Juvenile Law Center and Jody Kent Lavy, Director and National Coordinator, Fair Sentencing of Youth discussed the decision and implications for state level advocacy.  Audio of the call and resources will be posted soon.

On this episode, we review the Court's opinion this week in Montgomery v. Louisiana, which consider whether a prior Supreme Court ruling, Miller v. Alabama (2012), should apply retroactively to juvenile defendants that were sentenced to life without parole prior to the Court's decision. Miller v. Alabama held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment."

This week's episode covers Montgomery v. Louisiana, which discusses whether or not a rule that bars automatic life sentences without parole for juveniles convicted of murder should apply retroactively to a juvenile given life without parole 40 some odd years ago.  Brett and Nazim also discuss the differences between the juvenile justice system and the adult juvenile justice system, and whether or not the moral considerations of the Halloween sequels will influence the decisions of the Court.

Montgomery v. Louisiana | 10/13/15 | Docket #: 14-280

The case of Adnan Syed, the subject of the podcast “Serial”, has been followed and analysed predominantly from the perspective of its possibly being a wrongful conviction. That Adnan was a minor charged as an adult in draconian Maryland is an issue that is barely pondered. This is borne out when we interview some Serial fans and find out what made an impact on them about Adnan Syed's case. We give an overview of adolescent psychology, and the inappropriateness of charging teenagers as adults, and we examine the recent history of juvenile justice sentencing reform as a context for the October 13th, 2015 SCOTUS hearing on Montgomery v. Louisiana, the petition to have the 2012 Miller v. Alabama ruling against mandatory Life Without Parole for minors made retroactive.