Argued that the court should clarify that Miller establishes a presumption against imposing juvenile life without parole; establish clear guidelines to ensure juvenile life without parole is not imposed arbitrarily and capriciously; and hold that juvenile life without parole can never be imposed when a juvenile is convicted based on a finding of “complicity.”
Our brief argued that because Mr. Rainer’s sentence deprives him of a “meaningful opportunity to obtain release” as mandated by Graham and Miller, it is the functional equivalent of life without parole and is unconstitutional despite being labeled as a term-of-years sentence. We further argued that even when juveniles commit multiple nonhomicide offenses they are entitled to a “meaningful opportunity to obtain release” under Graham.
Our brief argued that Nathan had a constitutionally protected right to conflict-free counsel that was violated when the representation was allowed to proceed. Our brief argued that special scrutiny is required when a child’s liberty interest is at stake and the parent and child’s interest diverge so that the parent cannot play the traditionally protective parental role.
Our brief argued that Mr. Walker’s sentence was unconstitutional pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Miller v. Alabama, which banned mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles.
Our brief argued that automatic exclusion from juvenile court of certain youth charged with murder when combined with the imposition of mandatory sentences is unconstitutional, pursuant to recent Supreme Court rulings in Roper, Graham, and Miller, which established that youth are fundamentally different from adults in constitutionally relevant ways.
We argued that an Ohio statute's presumption that a recorded custodial statement is prima facie voluntary violates constitutional due process requirements.
Our brief argued that juvenile's sentence to an extreme term of years sentence deprives them of a meaningful and realistic opportunity to obtain release and is thus unconstitutional pursuant to Graham v. Florida and Miller v. Alabama.
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