Sentencing Flashcards
Cruel and unusual punishment: sentence length
The government has free rein to authorize virtually any length of sentence for virtually any crime, e.g., “three-strikes” laws.
Nor are “three-strikes” laws a violation of Double Jeopardy (or, if applicable, ex post facto punishment), as they are deemed to be enhancements rather than additional punishment.
But mandatory life without possibility of parole is unconstitutional for crimes committed while a juvenile. Discretionary LWOP is acceptable for a homicide committed by the defendant while a juvenile.
Cruel and unusual punishment: capital punishment
The death penalty can only be imposed in cases when the victim dies. It is constitutionally disproportionate otherwise.
The death penalty cannot be imposed on defendants who:
- Were under the age of 18 when they committed the crime;
- Suffer from cognitive impairment;
- Are insane at the time of execution.
The state must provide special safeguards before executing a defendant, including:
- A bifurcated trial process;
- The opportunity to present mitigating evidence; and
- A process that sufficiently narrows the class of death-sentence eligible offenses.
Cruel and unusual punishment: cruel and degrading punishment
Courts have extended the protection to conditions of confinement, e.g., overcrowding.
Because 8A applies only upon conviction for a crime, it is not implicated by practices such as torture, which is regulated by the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
Apprendi doctrine
The Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial—as well as Fifth Amendment right to notice—prohibits judges from enhancing criminal sentences beyond the statutory maximum based on facts other than those decided by the jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
Apprendi doctrine: sentence enhancement based on prior criminal convictions
Sentence enhancement based on prior criminal convictions need not be found by a jury.
Apprendi doctrine: the judge’s sentencing discretion
Many statutes give judges wide discretion to sentence the defendant—e.g., guideline ranges.
But if a statute requires a factual finding for sentence enhancement, it requires a jury funding beyond a reasonable doubt in order to enhance the sentence.
Right to a jury trial: death sentences
In order for a judge to impose the death sentence in a jury trial, the Sixth Amendment Right to a Jury Trial as made applicable to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that jury must find at least one aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt.
Cruel and unusual punishment: felony murder
The death penalty may be imposed on a defendant who is convicted of felony murder.
But the death penalty may not be imposed if the defendant, acting as an accomplice, did not kill, attempt to kill, or intend to kill, unless the defendant significantly participated in the commission of the felony and acted with reckless indifference to human life.
Right to a jury trial: consecutive sentences
A judge may make the determination of whether sentences for separate crimes may run consecutively.
The Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial does not require that a jury, rather than a judge, find any fact necessary to impose consecutive, rather than concurrent sentences.
