Harris v. State (2018 Ark. 179)

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Harris v. State
the Arkansas Supreme Court

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The U.S. Supreme Court held in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460, 489 (2012), that the Eighth Amendment forbade mandatory sentences of life without parole for juvenile offenders. The court decided Miller alongside an appeal by an Arkansas juvenile offender, Kuntrell Jackson. On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Arkansas Supreme Court in Jackson v. Norris, 2013 Ark. 175, held that Jackson was entitled to be resentenced after having the opportunity to present evidence about his age, age-related characteristics, and the nature of his crime. Then the same court held that Miller applied retroactively to other juvenile offenders serving sentences of life without parole. Kelley v. Gordon, 2015 Ark. 277.

In 2017 the Arkansas legislature passed the Fair Sentencing of Minors Act (FSMA), which set a new punishment for capital murder committed by juveniles: life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Many Miller defendants were still waiting for their resentencing hearings under Miller, Jackson and Gordon. The State argued that the FSMA had by itself resentenced all these prisoners to terms of life with parole eligibility after 30 years. The prisoners argued that they were entitled to the remedy granted by Jackson and Gordon.

In Harris v. State, 2018 Ark. 179, the Arkansas Supreme Court agreed with the prisoners. The court held that the new punishment for capital murder did not apply retroactively to juveniles who committed their offenses before the FSMA was passed.

2740499Harris v. State2018the Arkansas Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Arkansas

2018 Ark. 179

DERRICK LYNELL HARRIS v. STATE OF ARKANSAS

Appeal from the Drew County Circuit Court

No. CR-17-533. --- Delivered: May 24, 2018.

Court Documents
Opinion of the Court
Concurring Opinion Wynne
Dissenting Opinion Womack

Benca & Benca, by: Jessica Duncan Johnston; and Jeff Rosenzweig, for appellant.

Leslie Rutledge, Att’y Gen., by: Vada Berger, Ass’t Att’y Gen., and Christian Harris, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.

Opinion of the court by Chief Justice JOHN DAN KEMP. Concurring opinion by Justice ROBIN F. WYNNE. Dissenting opinion by Justice SHAWN A. WOMACK. Justice RHONDA WOOD dissents without opinion.

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