Youth Always Matters: Replacing Eighth Amendment Pseudoscience with an Age-Based Ban on Juvenile Life Without Parole.

The Supreme Court has placed restrictions on courts' ability to impose life-without-parole sentences on juveniles. Most recently, Jones v. Mississippi underscored how existing Eighth Amendment protections fail to extend categorical protection to all juveniles. Tracing the history of intrachildhood classifications, this Note argues that Jones's discretionary process forces sentencers to sort children into pseudoscientific categories. An analysis of sentencing transcripts reveals that sentencers routinely rely on unfounded assumptions when sentencing juveniles to life in prison. Highlighting efforts led by formerly incarcerated youth, this Note concludes that an agebased ban is necessary to protect youth from irreversible punishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]