An ongoing series from the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting shows that two thirds of juveniles are sentenced to life in prison without parole, even though a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision says such sentences should be “rare.”
Shirley Smith’s investigation examined the case of Brett Jones, a Mississippi man who appealed his resentencing to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in the case on Nov. 3. Jerry Mitchell reports on oral arguments in that case — and notes that all but one of the eight Mississippi juveniles sentenced to life without parole since the 2012 Supreme Court decision are Black.