Fairfield, Iowa, teacher murder conviction upheld by Iowa Supreme Court

Court: Compulsory sentences are still constitutional

Chief Justice Susan Christensen, writing for the unanimous court, noted in her opinion that the court previously heard similar constitutional challenges to juvenile sentencing in 2018. In any case, the court agreed that in some cases it is appropriate to sentence young offenders to mandatory minimum sentences.

“Frankly, little has changed in the six years since (2018),” Christensen wrote, explaining that precedent alone was enough to thwart Miller’s constitutional claim.

The court also rejected Miller's argument that prosecutors are required to provide expert testimony on a particular defendant's “youthful characteristics” when seeking a minimum sentence. Christensen wrote that the few states that have considered similar arguments have determined that expert testimony is not required, and that neither state law nor the Iowa Constitution provides for such a requirement.

And after upholding the constitutionality of Iowa's juvenile sentencing system, the Supreme Court concluded that Showers had properly considered the proper factors before imposing Miller's minimum sentence.