Bonilla v. Iowa Board of Parole

Julio Bonilla was initially sentenced to life without parole for a nonhomicide crime committed when he was 16. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Graham v. Florida, Mr. Bonilla was resentenced to the mandatory minimum of life with the possibility of parole. For juveniles like Mr. Bonilla, who were sentenced pursuant to mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, a parole hearing is the only opportunity for an individualized sentencing assessment—a right that both the U.S. Supreme Court and Iowa law require. Nevertheless, Iowa’s current parole process does not afford minimum due process protections, including the right to counsel.
 
O’Melveny & Myers partnered with Juvenile Law Center to file an amicus brief in the Iowa Supreme Court in support of Mr. Bonilla. The brief argued that greater procedural protections—including the right to counsel—are required during parole hearings to ensure that juveniles serving life sentences are given a meaningful opportunity to obtain release as required by Graham.

The Iowa Supreme Court held that juveniles do not have a categorical right to procedural protections, including the right to counsel and expert testimony, at every annual parole board review; however, the court also explicitly declined to “express [a] view as to whether there might be a right to [such procedural protections] under other circumstances with a different factual showing.” Furthermore, the court held that, “[i]f the state, through the Board, wishes to condition release upon successful completion of certain programming . . ., the department of corrections cannot unreasonably withhold such programming from a juvenile offender. Otherwise, the state could effectively deprive a juvenile offender of a meaningful opportunity to show maturity and rehabilitation by establishing release criteria that the state prevents the juvenile offender from meeting. The department of corrections does not have a pocket veto over the release of a juvenile offender through the withholding of services required by the Board for the release of a juvenile offender.”