Hicks v. State
Wyoming Supreme Court held that mandatory life without parole sentences for young adults who are over 18 do not violate the state constitution’s criminal punishment or equal protection clauses or the federal Eighth Amendment. The court found that the state criminal punishment clauses — which bar “cruel or unusual” punishment, require the penal code to be based on “humane principles of reformation and prevention," and prohibit treating prisoners “with unnecessary rigor — provide guarantees unique from the federal Eighth Amendment, but do not afford sentencing protections to emerging adults as a distinct category of criminal defendant.
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Wyoming Supreme Court Signals Openness to Limiting Excessive Punishments
At oral arguments over the constitutionality of mandatory life-without-parole sentences for young adults, several justices suggested the right to be free from “cruel or unusual” punishments might be fundamental.
State Court Oral Arguments to Watch for in May
Issues on the dockets include limits on a reform-minded prosecutor, automatic life sentences for late adolescents, and a ban on misgendering LGBTQ+ senior citizens.