Posts in 'Direct Representation'

Youth Tried as Adults
Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals •
We argued that the entirety of section 12-15-204, which required young people in Alabama charged with certain crimes to be prosecuted in adult court, was unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the United States Constitution.
Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)
U.S. Supreme Court •
Our brief argued that the Oregon Supreme Court’s use of mental illness as a proxy for “irreparable corruption” contravenes U.S. Supreme Court precedent, which has long established mental illness as a mitigating factor. We further argued that Mr. Kinkel’s illness is treatable and cannot be equated with irretrievable depravity.
Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)
Pennsylvania Superior Court •
Along with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, Juvenile Law Center filed a brief in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania arguing that imposing an additional six years on a juvenile lifer at resentencing is excessive where the court found credible evidence that established that the juvenile had been rehabilitated. We further argued that it is unconstitutional to impose a mandatory lifetime parole tail on all juvenile lifers being resentenced.
Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)
Pennsylvania Supreme Court •
The petition urges the court to grant review to determine whether a sentence of 50 years to life imposed upon a juvenile constitutes a de facto life sentence and thus requires the sentencing court provide the same procedural protections as required for imposing sentences of life without parole on juveniles.
Sex Offender Registration of Children (SORNA)
Pennsylvania Supreme Court •

The State appealed the trial court’s decision that lifetime registration of an adult for a crime committed as a juvenile is unconstitutional. We argued that the appeal is moot in light of Commonwealth v. Muniz, where the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held retroactive registration under SORNA unconstitutional.

Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)
Pennsylvania Superior Court •

We argued that both Miller and Montgomery establish a presumption against imposing life without parole sentences on juveniles, who are categorically less culpable than adults. We further argued that imposing a life without parole sentence on a juvenile convicted of felony murder is unconstitutional because it attributes the same level of culpability and foreseeability to each participant in the crime regardless of their level of participation or neurological development.

Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)
Pennsylvania Superior Court •

Along with Atlantic Center for Capital Representation and Wendy L. Williams & Associates, Juvenile Law Center filed an Application for Exercise of Extraordinary Jurisdiction or King's Bench Power on behalf of over 100 juveniles sentenced to JLWOP and then resentenced to 20-to-life terms.

Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)
Pennsylvania Supreme Court •

We challenged the constitutionality of resentencing a juvenile offender to two consecutive 30-to-life terms which amount to a de facto life sentence.

Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)
Pennsylvania Supreme Court •

Juvenile Law Center, in collaboration with Defender Association of Philadelphia, Cozen O’Connor, Peter Goldberger, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld LLP, filed a brief in the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania on behalf of Mr. Ligon and other named defendants in support of the questions of law raised in General Court Regulation #1 of 2016 to be resolved by an en banc panel prior to re-sentencing the juvenile life without parole population. Since Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia in particular has the largest juvenile lifer population in the country, the court’s decision is likely to have a significant impact on many juvenile lifer re-sentencings.

Solitary Confinement & Harsh Conditions
U.S. Supreme Court •

Juvenile Law Center, with co-counsel Kevin Allen of Crystle, Allen & Braught, has filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a 12-year-old child subjected to a suspicionless strip search upon his admission to a juvenile detention center. Our petition urged the Court to take the case to clarify the appropriate standard for strip searches of children in juvenile detention centers.