John Roberts

“ This conclusion does not establish that juveniles can never be eligible for life without parole. A life sentence is of course far less severe than a death sentence, and we have never required that it be imposed only on the very worst offenders, as we have with capital punishment. ”

“ On the contrary, our cases establish that the "narrow proportionality" review applicable to noncapital cases itself takes the personal "culpability of the offender" into account in examining whether a given punishment is proportionate to the crime. Solem, supra, at 292. There is no reason why an offender's juvenile status should be excluded from the analysis. Indeed, given Roper's conclusion that juveniles are typically less blameworthy than adults, 543 U.S., at 571, an offender's juvenile status can play a central role in the inquiry. ”

“ In reaching this conclusion, there is no need for the Court to decide whether that same sentence would be constitutional if imposed for other more heinous nonhomicide crimes.
A more restrained approach is especially appropriate in light of the Court's apparent recognition that it is perfectly legitimate for a juvenile to receive a sentence of life without parole for committing murder. This means that there is nothing inherently unconstitutional about imposing sentences of life without parole on juvenile offenders ”

“ As for Graham's degree of personal culpability, he committed the relevant offenses when he was a juvenile—a stage at which, Roper emphasized, one's "culpability or blameworthiness is diminished, to a substantial degree, by reason of youth and immaturity." 543 U.S., at 571. Graham's age places him in a significantly different category from the defendants in Rummel, Harmelin, and Ewing, all of whom committed their crimes as adults. Graham's youth made [p92] him relatively more likely to engage in reckless and dangerous criminal activity than an adult ”

“ B The second line of precedent relevant to assessing Graham's sentence consists of our cases acknowledging that juvenile offenders are generally—though not necessarily in every case—less morally culpable than adults who commit the same crimes. ”

“ But this is true when they sentence adults no less than when they sentence juveniles. It is also true when they sentence juveniles who commit murder no less than when they sentence juveniles who commit other crimes.
[p96] Our system depends upon sentencing judges applying their reasoned judgment to each case that comes before them. As we explained in Solem, the whole enterprise of proportionality review is premised on the "justified" assumption that "courts are competent to judge the gravity of an offense, at least on a relative scale." ”

“ These differences are a lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility, a heightened susceptibility to negative influences and outside pressures, and the fact that the character of a juvenile is "more transitory" and "less fixed" than that of an adult. ”

“ In short, our existing precedent already provides a sufficient framework for assessing the concerns outlined by the majority. Not every juvenile receiving a life sentence will prevail under this approach. ”