Skip to main content
LIRA@BC Law

Abstract

In 2013, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, following a United States Supreme Court case, Miller v. Alabama, held that all juvenile homicide offenders would have an opportunity for parole after serving fifteen years in prison. Subsequently, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, in Diatchenko v. District Attorney for the Suffolk District, held that juvenile homicide offenders are entitled to representation by counsel at parole hearings, funds for expert witnesses, and can be granted judicial review of parole board decisions. The majority afforded these additional procedures with the intention of providing juvenile homicide offenders with a meaningful opportunity for release. The dissent argued that the majority overstepped their judicial boundaries and entered the executive realm by combining criminal sentencing with parole hearing procedures. This Comment argues that the majority appropriately granted juvenile homicide offenders parole hearing procedural protections.

Files

File nameDate UploadedVisibilityFile size
05_trahos_A1b.pdf
8 Sep 2022
Public
238 kB

Metrics

Metadata

  • Subject
    • Criminal Law

    • Criminal Procedure

    • Juvenile Law

    • Law Enforcement and Corrections

  • Journal title
    • Boston College Journal of Law & Social Justice

  • Volume
    • 36

  • Issue
    • 3

  • Pagination
    • E. Supp. 52

  • Date submitted

    8 September 2022