People v. Williams

(Court opinion modified 12/11/13.) Pursuant to U.S. Supreme Court's 2012 decision in Miller v. Alabama, the government cannot constitutionally apply a mandatory sentence of life without parole for homicides committed by juveniles. Life without parole is justified only where the State shows that it is appropriate and fitting regardless of the defendant's age. Miller should be retroactively applied, as it is a rule that "requires the observance of those procedures that are implicit in the concept of ordered liberty. Sentencing court did not graduate and proportion punishment for defendant's crime considering his status as a juvenile at the time of the offense. This violates the eighth amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. (QUINN and CONNORS, concurring.)