As discussed previously on this blog, the Supreme Court’s opinion in Graham rendered unconstitutional life sentences in cases involving juvenile defendants, other than murder charges. Circuit courts are starting to see litigation stemming from this opinion, with motions attacking illegal sentences pursuant to Rule 3.800(b)(2) in pending appeals, which is how the issue was initially raised in Graham. It’s interesting that the issue was raised for the first time at that procedural point– it shows that even though postconviction litigation is often thankless, much can actually be accomplished in certain circumstances.
Another issue to note is the potential for application of Graham to those cases where a juvenile defendant was involved in a murder but did not actually carry out the final act. Graham suggests that life without parole is an inappropriate sentence for someone who did not kill or intend to kill, leaving an argument for those charged as principals in murder cases. It will be interesting to see how this evolves and what ends up being done with juveniles in this situation.
