Let’s say your client turned out be a juvenile and this life sentence includes no chance for parole and was imposed as a “mandatory sentence.”

Question

You have graduated from law school, passed the bar, and opened your own law firm. The first phone call to your office comes from a mother begging you to handle an appeal for her son, who has been sentenced to life in prison under a “three strikes and you’re out law.” This law mandates a life sentence for any three criminal convictions. Your state has no death penalty, so this is the worst sentence that he can receive. You agree to hear the case and the mother says she will be there in ten minutes to hand you the file. You decide to use the ten minutes before her arrival researching Supreme Court case law in “three strikes” cases; in the process you envision possibilities of what this client might have done.

a. Your client’s age is irrelevant to the matter at hand because he is not facing the death penalty.
b. There is Supreme Court case law that could help you formulate a successful appeal on behalf of minors who receive a life sentence without possibility for parole.
c. Because your client is under the age of 18, the most time he cannot be incarcerated past his 18th birthday.
d. Because your client is under the age of 18, he cannot receive more than 20 years in prison for any crime, according to Supreme Court precedent.

Answer 1

Answer: B