Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/11pdf/10-9646.pdf
Page Number: 6.0

2 

MILLER v. ALABAMA 

Opinion of the Court 

___ (2010) (slip op., at 17, 23), and runs afoul of our cases’ 
requirement  of  individualized  sentencing  for  defendants
facing the most serious penalties.  We therefore hold that 
mandatory  life  without  parole  for  those  under  the  age  of 
18 at the time of their crimes violates the Eighth Amend-
ment’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual punishments.” 

I 

A 
In November 1999, petitioner Kuntrell Jackson, then 14
years old, and two other boys decided to rob a video store. 
En  route  to  the  store,  Jackson  learned  that  one  of  the 
boys, Derrick Shields, was carrying a sawed-off shotgun in 
his coat sleeve.  Jackson decided to stay outside when the 
two  other  boys  entered  the  store.    Inside,  Shields  pointed 
the  gun  at  the  store  clerk,  Laurie  Troup,  and  demanded
that she “give up the money.”  Jackson v. State, 359 Ark. 
87,  89,  194  S. W.  3d  757,  759  (2004)  (internal  quotation
marks  omitted).    Troup  refused.  A  few  moments  later, 
Jackson  went  into  the  store  to  find  Shields  continuing  to 
demand  money.  At  trial,  the  parties  disputed  whether 
Jackson warned Troup that “[w]e ain’t playin’,” or instead 
told his friends, “I thought you all was playin’.”  Id., at 91, 
194  S. W.  3d,  at  760  (internal  quotation  marks  omitted).
When Troup threatened to call the police, Shields shot and 
killed her.  The three boys fled empty-handed.  See id., at 
89–92, 194 S. W. 3d, at 758–760. 

Arkansas law gives prosecutors discretion to charge 14-
year-olds as adults when they are alleged to have commit-
ted  certain  serious  offenses.    See  Ark.  Code  Ann.  §9–27– 
318(c)(2)  (1998).    The  prosecutor  here  exercised  that  au-
thority  by  charging  Jackson  with  capital  felony  murder 
and  aggravated  robbery.  Jackson  moved  to  transfer  the 
case  to  juvenile  court,  but  after  considering  the  alleged
facts of the crime, a psychiatrist’s examination, and Jack-
son’s  juvenile  arrest  history  (shoplifting  and  several  inci-