ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an analysis of Eighth Amendment jurisprudence to highlight the normative dimension of social rehabilitation under the US Constitution. The analysis will particularly emphasise key aspects of the body of judicial opinions upholding the illegitimacy of mandatory life sentences for minors – that is, capacity for individual change, hope for restoration, and respect of human dignity – which correspond to core components of the social rehabilitation paradigm. Through a progressive and extensive interpretation of this body of jurisprudence (notably, of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Graham v. Florida [2010]), the chapter showcases that the pursuit of social rehabilitation does hold margins of constitutional relevance even within the current jurisprudential landscape. Hence, it argues that constitutional grounds exist to expand the potential penological significance of social rehabilitation as a legitimate goal of US criminal justice.
