The Supreme Court rulings selected that I believe the most significant impact on law enforcement, as well as the way courts, deal with juvenile offenders is Graham V. Florid. The issue presented at the Court was whether the Constitution lets juvenile offenders to be sent to prison for life without parole for a nonhomicide crime. The state of Florida imposes the sentence. The court ruling took place in the premises of Florida First District Court of Appeal in the U.S.
Graham was accused of committing two robbery-type offences as a juvenile. In 2003, aged 16 years, Graham tried to rob a local barbecue restaurant with numerous accomplices (Cornell University Law School, 2010). He was sentenced to 3 years probation, one year served in county jail, after pleading guilty to the robbery charges. Graham was arrested again shortly after he was released after robbing a house. Based on the context of the second case, Graham pleaded guilty to a violation of his probation. He was sentenced to life in prison since in 2003 the state of Florida had abolished its parole system. Graham challenged his sentence by filing a motion in trial court based on the Eighth Amendment. Supreme Court the United States granted certiorari.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The issue presented at the Court was whether the Constitution lets juvenile offenders to be sent to prison for life without parole for a nonhomicide crime. At the time the state abolished its parole system. However, the above was reversed in Graham’s case. The Court found that it was categorically unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile for life in prison for a non-homicide crime (Juvenile Law Center, 2009). The Court concluded that when a juvenile is sentenced to life in prison, it denies him/her a chance to demonstrate growth and maturity.
The ruling discussed above has eased the interaction of juvenile offenders with the law as it protects them from being sentenced to life in prison. Thus, Courts ought to follow the ruling when handling juvenile cases.
Reference
Cornell University Law School. (2010). Supreme Court of the United States: Terrace Jamar Graham, Petitioner V. Florida. [Online]. Available at: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-7412.ZO.html . Accessed 17 th Jan 2019.
Juvenile Law Center. (2009). Graham V. Florida. (Online). Available at: https://jlc.org/cases/graham-v-florida-sullivan-v-florida . Accessed 17 th Jan 2019.
