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4 

MILLER v. ALABAMA 

ROBERTS, C. J., dissenting 

considerable  lengths  to  show  that  although  theoretically 
allowed in many States, the sentence at issue in that case 
was  “exceedingly  rare”  in  practice.    560  U. S.,  at  ___  (slip 
op.,  at  16).    The  Court  explained  that  only  123  prisoners
in  the  entire  Nation  were  serving  life  without  parole  for
nonhomicide  crimes  committed  as  juveniles,  with  more 
than half in a single State.  It contrasted that with statis-
tics  showing  nearly  400,000  juveniles  were  arrested  for 
serious  nonhomicide  offenses  in  a  single  year.    Based  on 
the sentence’s rarity despite the many opportunities to im-
pose  it,  Graham  concluded  that  there  was  a  national 
consensus against life without parole for juvenile nonhom-
icide crimes.  Id., at ___ (slip op., at 13–16).

Here  the  number  of  mandatory  life  without  parole  sen-
tences  for  juvenile  murderers,  relative  to  the  number  of 
juveniles  arrested  for  murder,  is  over  5,000  times  higher
than the corresponding number in Graham.  There is thus 
nothing  in  this  case  like  the  evidence  of  national  consen-
sus in Graham.1 

The  Court  disregards  these  numbers,  claiming  that  the
prevalence  of  the  sentence  in  question  results  from  the
number  of  statutes  requiring  its  imposition.  Ante,  at  21, 
n. 10.  True  enough.  The  sentence  at  issue  is  statutorily 
mandated  life  without  parole.  Such  a  sentence  can  only 
result  from  statutes  requiring  its  imposition.  In  Graham 
the Court relied on the low number of actual sentences to 
explain  why  the  high  number  of  statutes  allowing  such 
—————— 

1 Graham  stated  that  123  prisoners  were  serving  life  without  parole 
for  nonhomicide  offenses  committed  as  juveniles,  while  in  2007  alone 
380,480  juveniles  were  arrested  for  serious  nonhomicide  crimes.    560 
U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 13–14).  I use 2,000 as the number of prisoners
serving mandatory life without parole sentences for murders committed
as juveniles, because all seem to accept that the number is at least that
high.    And  the  same  source  Graham  used  reports  that  1,170  juveniles
were  arrested  for  murder  and  nonnegligent  homicide  in  2009.    Dept.
of  Justice,  Office  of  Juvenile  Justice  and  Delinquency  Prevention, 
C. Puzzanchera & B. Adams, Juvenile Arrests 2009, p. 4 (Dec. 2011).