Whether the Eighth Amendment permits a juvenile to be sentenced to life without parole under a system that did not afford the sentencing court discretion to choose any other option

QUESTION PRESENTED This Court has repeatedly affirmed that the Constitution “prohibits mandatory life-without-parole sentences for murderers under 18.” Jones v. Mississippi, 141 8. Ct. 1307, 13812 (2021); see Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460, 470 (2012); Montgomery v. Louisiana, 577 U.S. 190, 195, 206 (2016). Juvenile homicide offenders “may be sentenced to life without parole, but only if the sentence is not mandatory and the sentencer therefore has discretion to impose a lesser punishment” than life without parole. Jones, 141 S. Ct. at 1311 (emphases added). Because Arizona abolished parole in 1994, Miller counted Arizona as one of “29 jurisdictions mandating life without parole for children” in violation of the Eighth Amendment. 567 U.S. at 482, 486-487 & nn.9, 18, 15. Both this Court and the Arizona Supreme Court have repeatedly “confirmed that parole was unavailable” under Arizona law. Lynch v. Arizona, 578 U.S. 618, 616 (2016) (per curiam). In the decision below, the Arizona Supreme Court nevertheless concluded that Miller, Montgomery, and Jones do not forbid Arizona courts from imposing mandatory sentences of life without parole. The question presented is: Whether the Eighth Amendment permits a juvenile to be sentenced to life without parole under a system that did not afford the sentencing court discretion to choose any other option. (i)