Nightly Nuance - April 26, 2021

Hello, my friends. 

We're visiting with the Supreme Court today. At many listeners' request, I'm covering Jones v. Mississippi. You might have seen headlines about this case; it upholds a sentence of life without parole that a Mississippi court imposed for a crime committed by a person who was only 15 years old. 

Please hear this warning: the facts of this case are upsetting. A child suffered terrible abuse at the hands of his father and step-father, went to live with his grandparents, and soon after killed his grandfather. If you are not in a place to listen to the details today, we send you lots of love and will be back with something new tomorrow. 

Justice Kavanaugh authors the majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett. Justice Thomas writes a concurring opinion all by himself (I can't type it without breaking out into Celine Dion). Justice Sotomayor's dissent is joined by Justices Kagan and Breyer. 

I try to analyze this opinion thinking about three layers that are almost always operating when a case reaches the Supreme Court: the legal question, the political question, and the moral question. In this case, I would describe those questions this way: 

The legal question: Does a sentencer (judge or jury) in a criminal trial have to make any specific findings before sentencing a child who has committed a homicide to life without parole? 

The political question: What requirements, if any, can/should federal courts place on states with respect to punishing children for crimes? 

The moral question: What do we believe about human nature, development, and culpability? 

I look forward to your thoughts and questions, as always. Have the best available Monday. -beth

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