The Texas Court of Criminal of Appeals, the highest criminal court in the state, ruled in Ex Parte Terrell Maxwell on March 12 that Miller v. Alabama, which struck down mandatory life-without-parole sentences for children, applies to those sentenced prior to the Court issued its decision in June 2012. The court held that Miller created a substantive rule, meeting the federal legal standard to apply the decision retroactively.   As a result, approximately 20 people currently serving mandatory life without parole for crimes committed as youth will be resentenced.