The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juveniles cannot be given life sentences without the possibility of parole. But a unanimous ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court last week could be seen as a direct contradiction of that decision.
The opinion written by Justice John Lopez says there’s a key difference, because the Arizona cases under consideration all involved juveniles who were serving consecutive sentences for more than one crime, while the U.S. Supreme Court was limited to the commission of one crime.
The Show spoke with Arizona State University associate law professor Ben McJunkin about the Arizona decision and what may be next.
