Anthony A. Jones, ll v. State

Syllabus

We conclude Petitioner properly brought this challenge to subsection 63-19-20(1) of the South Carolina Code in his PCR application and the statute is constitutional. However, in keeping with our prior decisions regarding sentencing juveniles, circuit court judges must consider the mitigating factors of youth as identified in Aiken v. Byars, 410 S.C. 534, 765 S.E.2d 572 (2014) when sentencing, without a separate Aiken hearing. Accordingly, we affirm in part and reverse in part.