Cite as 2013 Ark. 175
against irrevocably sentencing them to a lifetime in prison." Id. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 2469.
The Court held that "[b]y requiring that all children convicted of homicide receive lifetime incarceration without possibility of parole, regardless of their age and age-related characteristics and the nature of their crimes, the mandatory sentencing schemes before us violate this principle of proportionality, and so the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment." Id. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 2475. The Court reversed and remanded the case "for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion." Id. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 2475.
We agree with the State's[1] concession that Jackson is entitled to the benefit of the United State's Supreme Court's opinion in his own case. See Yates v. Aiken, 484 U.S. 211, 218 (1988). Given the holding in Miller, we reverse the denial of the petition for writ of habeas corpus, issue the writ, and remand to the Jefferson County Circuit Court with instructions that the case be transferred to the Mississippi County Circuit Court. See Waddle v. Sargent, 313 Ark. 539, 545, 855 S.W.2d 919, 922 (1993) (issuing the writ in a Lincoln County habeas corpus case and placing the prisoner in the custody of Faulkner County law enforcement to be held on a capital-murder charge); see also Ark. Code Ann. § 16-112-102(a)(1) (Repl. 2006) (granting power to this court to issue writ); Ark. Code Ann. § 16-112-115 (Repl. 2006) (permitting the "judge before whom writ is returned" to "make such order as may be proper").
We must, however, address the proper sentencing procedure for the Mississippi
- ↑ While Larry Norris, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction, is the nominal party, we will identify the appellee as the "State."
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