A Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Miller v. Alabama, deeming mandatory life sentences without parole for juvenile homicide defendants unconstitutional, applies retroactively.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Savage of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s ruling in Songster v. Beard reaches the exact opposite result of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which in October 2013 ruled in a split decision in Commonwealth v. Cunningham that Miller‘s reasoning did not apply retroactively to those challenging on collateral review sentences that became final before Miller was decided. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the defendant’s petition for certiorari in Cunningham.
