We will hear argument first this morning in case number 181259, Jones versus Mississippi.

Hey everyone, this is Leon from Fiasco and Prologue Projects.

On this week's episode of Five to Four, the hosts are talking about juvenile life without parole.

When a person is sentenced to spend the rest of their life in prison because of a crime they

committed as a minor, for a while the court was becoming less tolerant of extreme sentences like

the death penalty and mandatory life without parole for crimes committed by minors.

But in a ruling from earlier this year in Jones v. Mississippi, the court held that minors

can be jailed until their death, even if the state hasn't proved that they are incapable of

reform. I don't know how you could ever say, well I know this person is never going to change.

Particularly when you're talking about a child, you know, I don't think any of us are the

person we were when we were 16 or 17 years old. This is Five to Four, a podcast about how much the

Supreme Court sucks. Welcome to Five to Four where we dissect and analyze the Supreme Court cases

that have frayed and flattened our civil rights like the bristles of an overused toothbrush.

I'm Peter and I'm here with Reannon. Hey Peter, that was descriptive illustrative.

Thanks. I was looking at my toothbrush when I came up with it. Yeah.

Michael's taken the week off, but that's okay because we're doing a case where re and I have,

believe it or not, some overlapping expertise. Yeah, you'll be surprised to hear I am actually

literate on these cases only. Today's case is Jones V. Mississippi. Case came down just a few

weeks ago and it is about under what circumstances you can sentence a juvenile offender to life

in prison without parole. And we thought it would be a great opportunity to walk through the

history of Supreme Court rulings on juvenile punishment in the United States. Long time fans might

be asking themselves how I have any expertise on this and it's not just that I was an unruly child.

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