S.B. 9, 147th Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Del. 2013) (amending Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, §§ 636(b), 4209, 4209A, 4204A).
Delaware passed legislation in 2013 eliminating sentences of life without the possibility of release for juveniles. Under the legislation, individuals serving mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of release for crimes committed as juveniles will be resentenced and subject to a sentencing range of twenty-five years to life. In addition, the law allows juveniles sentenced to more than 20 years to petition the court for sentence modification. Modification requests may be filed after 30 years in first-degree murder cases and after 20 years for all other cases. Inmates may receive subsequent reviews every five years, with discretion for the court to lengthen the time between petitions. The statute applies retroactively to prisoners serving sentences at the time of passage.