Court strikes down mandatory sentences of life imprisonment without parole for young murderers The Supreme Court Monday struck down mandatory sentences of life imprisonment without parole for convicted murderers who were only 14 years old when they committed their crimes. There are approximately 80 fourteen-year-olds nationwide who are serving such sentences. The justices ruled that imposition of a life-without-parole sentence on a fourteen-year-old person convicted of homicide violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments.