People v. Pacheco

Juvenile Law Center and the Loyola Civitas ChildLaw Clinic filed an amicus brief in State of Illinois v. Maria S. Pacheco, arguing that Illinois' statutory sentencing scheme is unconstitutional because it subjects youth such as Ms. Pacheco, who was 16 years old at the time of the alleged offenses, to mandatory sentencing schemes upon conviction without the opportunity for any judicial review before being tried in adult court.

Pursuant to Illinois' statute, Ms. Pacheco was automatically excluded from juvenile court. After she was convicted of first degree murder (by accountability), robbery (by accountability), and possession of a stolen vehicle, the court was required to impose mandatory minimum sentences with no possibility of a reduction in years for good conduct credits.

Amici argued that in light of recent United States Supreme Court jurisprudence, particularly the Court's reasoning in Graham v. Florida and Miller v. Alabama, Illinois' transfer and mandatory sentencing statutes are unconstitutional because they 1) create an irrebuttable presumption in favor of culpability and against the child's capacity for change and rehabilitation and 2) do not allow for individualized sentencing of minors transferred to adult court and convicted of murder by accountability.

Unlike Illinois, most state transfer schemes require some individualized determination by a court prior to a youth's prosecution in adult court. Illinois is an outlier in that it is one of only 14 states (along with the District of Columbia) that does not allow a court to consider constitutionally relevant factors before subjecting a youth to prosecution and sentencing in the adult criminal system.

Amici further argued that Illinois' statutory scheme is unconstitutional because it subjects youth who were not principally responsible—such as those charged with felony murder or those charged under an accountability theory—to automatic transfer to adult court and mandatory sentencing without a court's consideration of the constitutionally relevant attributes of adolescence.

Ms. Pacheco is represented by Jacqueline L. Bullard of Illinois' Office of the State Appellate Offender. Juvenile Law Center was joined on the brief by dozens of individuals and organizations that work on behalf of youth in the justice and child welfare systems.

The Illinois Supreme Court ordered that the petition for leave to appeal was improvidently granted and vacated cert.