Page:Jackson v. Norris.pdf/7

 County Circuit Court to follow on resentencing. While the State suggests that Jackson, through severance of language from various statutes, may be sentenced by this court to a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, the imposition of that sentence by this court would not allow for consideration of Miller evidence. Furthermore, given the constitutional infirmities of our capital-murder statute as it pertains to juveniles, we must also determine whether the portions of the statute giving rise to the infirmities can be severed without defeating the entirety of the statute. Hobbs v. Jones, 2012 Ark. 293, at 16–17, ___ S.W.3d ___, ___. Determining whether the infirmities are fatal to the entire legislation requires that we look to whether a single purpose is meant to be accomplished by the act and whether the sections of the act are interrelated and dependent upon each other. Id., ___ S.W.3d at ___.

In considering the capital-murder statute quoted above as it pertains to juveniles, we observe that substantial portions of subsection (c) must be severed. In sum, we must delete the entirety of the first sentence, which provides that "[c]apital murder is punishable by death or life imprisonment without parole pursuant to §§ 5-4-601 — 5-4-605, 5-4-607, and 5-4-608." Furthermore, we must sever most of the second sentence, which provides that "[f]or all purposes other than disposition under §§ 5-4-101 — 5-4-104, 5-4-201 — 5-4-204, 5-4-301 — 5-4-308, 5-4-310, 5-4-311, 5-4-401 — 5-4-404, 5-4-501 — 5-4-504, 5-4-505 [repealed], 5-4-601 — 5-4-605, 5-4-607, and 5-4-608, capital murder is a Class Y felony." Nevertheless, we may sever that sentence so that, for juveniles convicted of capital murder, all that remains