Montgomery v. Louisiana (2016)

Montgomery v. Louisiana Opinion

On January 25th, 2016, the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that its 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama applied retroactively to the more than 2600 individuals previously sentenced to life without parole as children.

Henry Montgomery, the petitioner in the case, was sentenced to life without parole for a crime committed when he was 17 years old in 1963, almost 50 years before the decision in Miller. Louisiana courts declined to apply Miller retroactively to cases like Mr. Montgomery’s.

Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority, overturned the state court’s decision and found that, under a prior Supreme Court decision, Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288 (1989), Miller announced a new substantive rule that applies retroactively. Justice Kennedy explained: “because Miller determined that sentencing a child to life without parole is excessive for all but ‘the rare juvenile offender whose crime reflects irreparable corruption,’ it rendered life without parole an unconstitutional penalty for ‘a class of defendants because of their status’—that is, juvenile offenders whose crimes reflect the transient immaturity of youth. As a result, Miller announced a substantive rule of constitutional law.” 136 S.Ct. 718, 724 (2016) Therefore, “Miller is retroactive because it ‘necessarily carr[ies] a significant risk that a defendant’—here, the vast majority of juvenile offenders— ‘faces a punishment that the law cannot impose upon him.’” Id.

Montgomery v. Louisiana

 

Cert Petition and Opposition Filed in Montgomery v. Louisiana

Petition for Writ of Certiorari on Behalf of Henry Montgomery

Brief in Opposition to Petition for Writ of Certiorari on Behalf of Louisiana

Reply Brief in Support of Petition for Writ of Certiorari on Behalf of Henry Montgomery

 

Party Briefs Filed in Montgomery v. Louisiana

Brief Filed on Behalf of Henry Montgomery (Petitioner’s Brief)

Brief Filed on Behalf of Louisiana (Respondent’s Brief)

Reply Brief Filed on Behalf of Henry Montgomery (Petitioner’s Reply Brief)

 

Montgomery v. Louisiana Oral Argument

Oral Argument Transcript

Oral Argument Audio Recording

 

Amicus

BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE PROFESSOR DOUGLAS A. BERMAN IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER

BRIEF OF NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW’S CHILDREN AND FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER and CENTER ON WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS OF YOUTH, ET AL. AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER

BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE Pascal F. Calogero, Jr., Burk Foster, John Whitley, and The Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER

BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER

BRIEF FOR THE UNITED STATES AS AMICUS CURIAE SUPPORTING PETITIONER

BRIEF OF THE EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE ON BEHALF OF DOZENS SENTENCED TO DIE IN PRISON WHEN THEY WERE CHILDREN AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER

BRIEF OF FORMER JUVENILE COURT JUDGES AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER 

BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE OF CERTAIN FAMILY MEMBERS OF VICTIMS KILLED BY YOUTHS IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER

BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION AND THE ACLU OF LOUISIANA, IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER