WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down as unconstitutional sentences of life in prison without possible release for juveniles who commit a crime other than murder.
The nation’s highest court ruled that life imprisonment without parole in such cases violated the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
An estimated 111 defendants in the United States have been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for crimes other than murder committed when they were under age 18. About 70 percent of them are imprisoned in Florida.
The case before the court involved a juvenile who was 16 when he committed armed burglary and another crime.
