In January 2001, Lionel Tate was convicted of first degree murder of six year old Tiffany Eunick. Lionel was thirteen years old and was the youngest American citizen to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. More than 25% of people serving life without parole after being sentenced as children were convicted of felony murder or accomplice liability, meaning they were not the primary perpetrators of the crime, and may not have even been present at the time someone was killed. There are approximately ten thousand juveniles in adult prisons; however, not all of them should undergo the challenges youth face in adult prisons. There are youth that deserve to be in adult prison, but there are also youth in adult prisons that face many …show more content…
Alabama. According to the Miller v. Alabama case, sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole is violating the eighth amendment; “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The Miller v. Alabama court case revealed a bigger problem; should this be applied retroactively? Montgomery v. Louisiana “was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that its previous ruling in Miller v. Alabama…that a mandatory life sentence without parole should not apply to persons convicted of murder committed as juveniles, should be applied retroactively.” According to the Montgomery v. Louisiana case, the supreme court ruling should only be applied retroactively if the juvenile did not commit murder. “An estimated 26 percent of youth offenders were convicted of felony murder.” Felony murder is when a juvenile commits a non-homicide crime, but is responsible for a codefendant’s actions that occur during the time of the crime. If this is applied retroactively this could possibly affect over 2300 cases nationwide including felony