In a 5-4 decision released today, the Supreme Court ruled that offenders who were sentenced to Life Without Parole (LWOP) must be given a chance to be considered for release – if the offense for which they were sentenced was not a homicide.

The case, Graham v. Florida, resulted from a youth convicted in a series of robberies when he was 16 and 17 – and resulted in a life without parole sentence in the Florida adult system. Florida holds 70% of all juveniles who received an LWOP sentence in a non-homicide situation.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is often viewed as the deciding vote in the Roper v. Simmons case in which the Supreme Court ruled that imposing the death penalty on youth who committed crimes as a juvenile was unconstitutional, again took note that the United States is only one of 11 countries in which an LWOP sentence is even possible and only one of two countries (Israel being the other) in which the practice has actually occurred. The opinion concluded that:
The Constitution prohibits the imposition of a life without parole sentence on a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide. A State need not guarantee the offender eventual release, but if it imposes a sentence of life it must provide him or her with some realistic opportunity to obtain release before the end of that term. The judgment of the First District Court of Appeal of Florida affirming Graham’s conviction is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

This ruling will apply to the estimated 100 individuals serving LWOP sentences for non-homicide offenses committed as a juvenile. Watch for more information on this important decision.