Petition of the day
on Jan 9, 2017 at 11:23 pm
The petition of the day is:
Issues: (1) Whether the Eighth Amendment’s requirement of individualized sentencing for a child who confronts a sentence of life in prison is satisfied by the possibility that a future parole board may exercise its discretion to release him early; and (2) whether the imposition of a mandatory life sentence on a child convicted on a joint venture theory, without any individualized sentencing consideration, violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.