In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole for juvenile offenders violates the Eighth Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment, even when the conviction is for murder.
As a result, many states adopted measures that mandate reviews of sentences for juveniles serving life sentences or somewhat less severe, but still lengthy, prison terms. But Connecticut has remained a holdout, and despite lobbying by a former state Supreme Court justice, lawmakers once again in the just-completed session failed to pass a measure that would require parole hearings for juveniles serving long sentences.
