People v. Buffer

Juvenile Law Center joined Children and Family Justice Center and others on an amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court of Illinois on behalf of Dimitri Buffer, who was sentenced to a de facto life sentence of 50 years for a crime he committed as a juvenile. We argued that a lengthy sentence imposed on a youth, which precludes a meaningful opportunity to obtain release, violates the Eighth Amendment. We further argued that Illinois sentencing structure, which imposes an automatic 25 years-to-life in firearm enhancements on top of mandatory minimums on youth tried as adults, fails to meaningfully consider youth as required by Miller and Montgomery.

The Illinois Supreme Court held that "[b]ecause defendant's sentence was greater than 40 years, we conclude that defendant received a de facto life sentence. We also conclude that the [trial] court failed to consider defendant's youth and its attendant characteristics in imposing that sentence," which violates the Eighth Amendment.