Amicus Brief in Support of Ending LWOP for Late Adolescents
The Sentencing Project joined with the Juvenile Law Center and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center to submit an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts in support of Sheldon Mattis, arguing that life without parole sentences for all late adolescents are unconstitutional.
Related to: Sentencing Reform, Incarceration
In Miller v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the distinctive attributes of youth rendered mandatory life without parole sentences for people under 18 years old unconstitutional. With its ruling in Diatchenko v. District Attorney in 2013, the Massachusetts Supreme Court went a step further, finding that discretionary life without parole sentences for youth under 18 violate the Massachusetts Constitution’s ban on cruel or unusual punishment.
In Commonwealth v. Sheldon Mattis, the Massachusetts Supreme Court will consider whether the Massachusetts Constitution categorically bars mandatory life without parole sentences for individuals aged 18 to 20 convicted of first-degree murder. The science is clear: the unique attributes of youth do not end when an individual turns 18. Young adults are also deserving of special sentencing consideration.
The Sentencing Project joined with the Juvenile Law Center and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center to submit the below amicus brief to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts in support of Sheldon Mattis, arguing that life without parole sentences for all late adolescents are unconstitutional.
We thank our attorney at the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center and our partners at the Juvenile Law Center.
Click here to read the amicus brief.
