US Supreme Court Docket
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No. 08-7621
Title:
Sulllivan v. Florida
Subject:
Sentencing, Criminal law and procedure
Question:
Joe Sullivan is serving a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a non-homicide offense committed when he was thirteen years old. Nationwide, only one other thirteen-year-old child has received a life-without-parole sentence for a non-homicide. The questions presented are:
1. Does imposition of a life-without-parole sentence on a thirteen-year-old for a non-homicide violate the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, where the freakishly rare imposition of such a sentence reflects a national consensus on the reduced criminal culpability of children?
2. Given the extreme rarity of a life imprisonment without parole sentence imposed on a 13-year-old child for a non-homicide and the unavailability of substantive review in any other federal court, should this Court grant review of a recently evolved Eighth Amendment claim where the state court has refused to do so?
Decisions:
- District Court of Appeal of Florida - First District Opinion Filed: June 17, 2008
Resources:
- Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
-
Coming Soon
For Petitioner:
For Respondent:Bryan A. Stevenson
Equal Justice Initiative
Montgomery, AL
Scott D. Makar
Solicitor General
Office of the Attorney General
Tallahassee, FL
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