Lucero v. People

Juvenile Law Center filed an amicus brief in the Colorado Supreme Court on behalf of Guy Lucero, who received a sentence of 84 years that requires him to serve 42 years before he is parole-eligible for nonhomicide offenses he committed as a juvenile.

Our brief argued that this sentence is unconstitutional pursuant to the United States Supreme Court’s Ruling in Graham v. Florida, which held that juvenile nonhomicide offenders cannot be sentenced to life without parole without a meaningful and realistic opportunity to re-enter society. Because Mr. Lucero’s sentence deprives him of a meaningful opportunity to obtain release, it is the functional equivalent of life without parole and is unconstitutional despite being labeled as a term of years sentence.

The Supreme Court of Colorado held that Graham and Miller do not apply to aggregate term-of-years ssentences, explaining that "[l]ife without parole is a specific sentence, distinct from sentences to terms of years." Althought the Court has deemed the sentences distinct, for Mr. Lucero and the other youthful offenders affected by this Court's decision, the results are likely to be the same: a lifetime behind bars for nonhomicide offenses committed as a child.