Williams Moot Court to Debate Juvenile Sentencing
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College political science department will hold the U.S. Supreme Court moot court argument "Should Juvenile Offenders Be Sentenced to Life without Parole?" on Thursday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m. in Griffin Hall, Room 3. The event is free and open to the public.Presiding over the moot court will be Peter W. Hall, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; Jeffrey R. Howard, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; Jeffrey S. Sutton '83, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; and Stephen R. Reinhardt, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The moot court will examine an issue that is awaiting an opinion from the United States Supreme Court: whether a sentence of life imprisonment without parole for juvenile offenders convicted of non-homicide crimes violates the Eight Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The United States is the only country in the world in which juveniles can be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. According to estimates, 2,600 juveniles were serving such sentences as of May 2009.
Williams College students will argue this issue as presented in the companion cases of Graham vs. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida. Terrance Graham was 17 years old in 2004 when he was convicted of a probation violation following a felony robbery the previous year. Joe Sullivan was 13 years old in 1989 when he was convicted of sexual battery.
Additionally, Florida contends that the Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction over the Sullivan petition due to state procedural law limiting the duration within which a post-conviction motion can be filed.
In 2005, the Supreme Court held in Roper v. Simmons that it is unconstitutional to impose the death penalty for crimes committed while under the age of 18. The two-step test applied in the ruling comprised: the "national consensus" position, that capital punishment for juvenile offenders was increasingly rare; and the "evolving standards of decency" test, that the death penalty was disproportionate due to juveniles' undeveloped decision-making capacity and potential for rehabilitation.
On Nov. 9, 2009, Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida argued before the United States Supreme Court that the ruling in Roper v. Simmons should be extended beyond capital punishment to include life sentences without the possibility of parole. The court has yet to issue an opinion on this case.
The undergraduates acting as prosecution and defense counsel were recently students in Winter Study course titled "The Federal Bench." The course was taught by Barbara O'Connor and David Kirby of O'Connor and Kirby, P.C. in Bennington, Vt.
O'Connor and Kirby will assist in the moot court argument. O'Connor was formerly first assistant federal public defender in the District of Vermont, and supervisor and assistant federal public defender in the Central District of California. Kirby was formerly a U.S. attorney for the District of Vermont.
