Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/11pdf/10-9646.pdf
Page Number: 1.0

(Slip Opinion) 

OCTOBER  TERM,  2011 

1 

Syllabus 

NOTE:  Where  it  is  feasible,  a  syllabus  (headnote)  will  be  released,  as  is
being  done  in  connection  with  this  case,  at  the  time  the  opinion  is  issued.
The  syllabus  constitutes  no  part  of  the  opinion  of  the  Court  but  has  been
prepared  by  the  Reporter  of  Decisions  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader. 
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

Syllabus 

MILLER v. ALABAMA 

CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF 

ALABAMA
 

No. 10–9646.  Argued March 20, 2012—Decided June 25, 2012*
 

In each of these cases, a 14-year-old was convicted of murder and sen-
tenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment without the possibil-
ity  of  parole.  In  No.  10−9647,  petitioner  Jackson  accompanied  two
other  boys  to  a  video  store  to  commit  a  robbery;  on  the  way  to  the 
store, he learned that one of the boys was carrying a shotgun.  Jack-
son stayed outside the store for most of the robbery, but after he en-
tered,  one  of  his  co-conspirators  shot  and  killed  the  store  clerk.    Ar-
kansas  charged  Jackson  as  an  adult  with  capital  felony  murder  and 
aggravated  robbery,  and  a  jury  convicted  him  of  both  crimes.    The 
trial court imposed a statutorily mandated sentence of life imprison-
ment  without  the  possibility  of  parole.    Jackson  filed  a  state  habeas 
petition, arguing that a mandatory life-without-parole term for a 14-
year-old  violates  the  Eighth  Amendment.    Disagreeing,  the  court 
granted the State’s motion to dismiss.  The Arkansas Supreme Court 
affirmed. 
  In  No.
 10−9646, petitioner Miller, along with a friend, beat Miller’s 
neighbor  and  set  fire  to  his  trailer  after  an  evening  of  drinking  and
drug use.  The neighbor died.  Miller was initially charged as a juve-
nile, but his case was removed to adult court, where he was charged 
with murder in the course of arson.  A jury found Miller guilty, and
the  trial  court  imposed  a  statutorily  mandated  punishment  of  life
without  parole.    The  Alabama  Court  of  Criminal  Appeals  affirmed,
holding  that  Miller’s  sentence  was  not  overly  harsh  when  compared
to  his  crime,  and  that  its  mandatory  nature  was  permissible  under 

—————— 

* Together  with  No.  10–9647,  Jackson  v.  Hobbs,  Director,  Arkansas 
Department of Correction, on certiorari to the Supreme Court of Arkan-
sas.