Jones v. Mississippi Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained

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Jones v. Mississippi
United States Supreme Court
593 U.S. ___, 141 S. Ct. 1307, 209 L. Ed. 2d 390 (2021)

The law treats children and adults differently for criminal sentencing, so an appropriate sentence for an adult might be unconstitutionally excessive for a minor. In Jones versus Mississippi, the court considered whether a minor's sentence was permissible.

A jury convicted Brett Jones of murder at fifteen.

At the time, Mississippi law imposed a mandatory sentence of life without parole.

Later, however, in Miller versus Alabama, the United States Supreme Court held that a juvenile homicide defendant could be sentenced to life without parole only if the sentencer had the discretion to impose a lighter penalty.

Then in Montgomery versus Louisiana, the court held that Miller's rule applied retroactively.

Accordingly, Mississippi gave Jones a new sentencing hearing.

After the hearing, the sentencing judge noted that he had discretion to impose a lesser sentence, but determined that Jones's existing sentence should stand. Jones appealed to the Mississippi Court of Appeals.

Jones argued that Miller and Montgomery required the sentencing court to make a separate finding that a minor defendant who committed homicide was permanently incorrigible before imposing a sentence of life without parole.

The sentencing judge didn't make such a finding. The appellate court affirmed Jones's sentence.

The United States Supreme Court granted cert.

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