South Carolina holds Miller retroactive

South Carolina has become the ninth state to determine that the Miller v. Alabama decision should be applied retroactively.

The ruling by the South Carolina Supreme Court means that dozens of people who were sentenced as children to life without parole will now have an opportunity for review. The ruling applies to people whose sentences were mandatory as well as those in which a judge had discretion in giving the sentence.

In addition, state high courts in Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Texas, Illinois, Nebraska and Wyoming have ruled that Miller applies retroactively. Four states have ruled that Miller is not retroactive.

Read the ruling in Aikens, et al v. Byars
Read a news story: South Carolina’s high court orders new sentences for some juveniles convicted of homicide