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Amended Amicus Brief in Support of Petitioner
This brief argues that juvenile offenders are different from adults and should receive sentences that reflect their reduced culpability. It urges the court to reject a 90-year sentence for a juvenile as a de facto life sentence.
Brief of Amicus Curiae, Herby J. Caillot in Support of Positions of Gregory Diatchenko and Marquise Brown
This brief argues that juvenile offenders previously sentenced to life without parole must receive relief on appeal. It contends that resentencing should consider juvenile status and existing law, possibly allowing a new trial.
Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts; Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Racial Justice at Harvard Law School et al.
This brief argues that Massachusetts should prohibit all life-without-parole sentences for juveniles. It asserts that such sentences are both "cruel" and "unusual" under the state's Declaration of Rights, going beyond federal standards.
Amicus Brief in Support of Petitioner
This brief argues that juveniles differ from adults and these differences should affect sentencing. It supports rejecting a 90-year sentence for a 17-year-old, viewing it as a life sentence.
Brief of Juvenile Law Center, et al. as Amici Curiae on Behalf of Petitioner
This brief argues that the Supreme Court's ruling against mandatory life without parole for juvenile offenders applies retroactively. It asserts that prior Eighth Amendment decisions are inherently retroactive.
Brief of Amici Curiae Juvenile Law Center et al. in Support of Real Party in Interest Tyler B.
The brief argues a court properly suppressed evidence from a teen's blood draw. It asserts the teen's consent was involuntary given his age and circumstances, as police lacked a warrant.
Brief of Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth, Vanderbilt Professor of Law and Medicine Terry A. Maroney, et al. as Amici Curiae
This brief argues juveniles are more susceptible to police pressure during interrogations and thus more prone to confessing than adults.
Brief of Juvenile Law Center on Behalf of Appellant
This brief argues that Nebraska's mandatory life without parole for juveniles is unconstitutional. It claims the law fails to consider a juvenile's culpability or provide parole for those not directly involved in a killing.
Brief of Amici Curiae Juvenile Law Center et al. in Support of Appellees and Urging Affirmance
This brief argues that routine, suspicionless strip searches of juveniles for minor offenses are unconstitutional. It claims these searches violate Fourth Amendment rights and do not meet "special needs" criteria.
Brief on Behalf of Defendant-Appellant
This brief argues that the lower court's sentence for a juvenile violates Supreme Court precedent by not considering the individual's culpability and denying a meaningful chance for release.
Brief of Jeffrey Fagan, Deborah Baskin, Frank R. Baumgartner, Katherine Beckett, Donna Bishop, Alfred Blumstein, and Robert Brame et al. as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners
This brief argues that the "juvenile superpredator" concept, which led to harsh sentencing for youth, was a myth. It contends that life without parole sentences for juveniles lack an empirical basis and do not deter crime.
Brief of Juvenile Law Center et al. as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners
This brief argues that sentencing juveniles to life without parole violates the Eighth Amendment. It contends that juveniles are less culpable than adults and capable of rehabilitation, making such sentences disproportionate.
Supplemental Brief for Amicus Curiae the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association in Support of Appellee the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Miller v. Alabama only bars mandatory life without parole for juveniles and does not negate first-degree murder convictions. It requires a new sentencing hearing to consider youth, but a maximum life term remains valid.
Brief of NAACP et al. in Support of Petitioners
This brief argues that sentencing a 14-year-old to life without parole is unconstitutional, citing cruel and unusual punishment. It states that racial bias improperly influences such sentences for children.
Brief of Juvenile Law Center and the National Juvenile Defender Center as Amici Curiae in Support of Petition for a Writ of Certiorari
This brief argues that sentencing a child to prison for over 100 years for non-homicide crimes is unconstitutional. It asserts that children must have a meaningful chance for release, even if not labeled "life without parole."