Arkansas Supreme Court; Robin F. Wynne

“ In neither case did the sentencing authority have any discretion to impose a different punishment. State law mandated that each juvenile die in prison even if a judge or jury would have thought that his youth and its attendant characteristics, along with the nature of his crime, made a lesser sentence (for example, life with the possibility of parole) more appropriate. ”

“ Because we affirm for the reason stated above, we do not address the circuit court's equal-protection and due-process rulings. In sum, we affirm the circuit court's order vacating Gordon’s sentence of life imprisonment without parole and remanding to the Crittenden County Circuit Court for appropriate resentencing proceedings. ”

“ This court has already granted relief to Kuntrell Jackson on remand from the United States Supreme Court. Of course, Jackson was entitled to the benefit of the United States Supreme Court's decision in his own case. ”