Date of Award
Spring 2024
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Major
Public Policy & Law
First Advisor
Professor Glenn Falk
Second Advisor
Professor Adrienne Fulco
Abstract
The United States is an outlier in juvenile sentencing practices, often subjecting youth offenders to extreme and lengthy punishments. While the Supreme Court over the past two decades has been slowly narrowing the nation’s use of such sentences against children through a series of cases known as the Miller Trilogy, this progress came to a sudden halt in the 2021 case of Jones v. Mississippi. However, in surprising turn of events, the Supreme Court’s recent national display of restraint has not stopped sentencing reform efforts in the states. Contrary to the current Supreme Court, states in the U.S. have preserved the values and precedents set by the Court in the Miller Trilogy. Today, over half of the states in the United Sates have abolished the harshest sentence a child can receive through a combination of legislative and judicial efforts that prevails despite political differences. The trends in recent years of state reform display a renewed hope for the status of juvenile sentencing in the face of present Supreme Court inaction.
Recommended Citation
Seguinot, Gabriela, "The Miller Trilogy, Jones, and the Future of Juvenile Sentencing and Constitutional Interpretation in the Post-Jones America". Senior Theses, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2024.
Trinity College Digital Repository, https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses/1082
