Abstract
In 1983, the defendant Mr. Smith was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping which he committed when he was 16 years old. His sentence of life in prison was later vacated and he was resentenced to 90 years in prison. Mr. Smith appealed this sentence, claiming it was excessive and violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Additionally, the Supreme Court of Nebraska found Mr. Smith's sentence unconstitutional in light of the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Graham v. Florida where the Court held that it was unconstitutional for a state to impose a sentence of life without parole on a juvenile for the commission of a non-homicide offense.
Abstract
In 1983, the defendant Mr. Smith was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping which he committed when he was 16 years old. His sentence of life in prison was later vacated and he was resentenced to 90 years in prison. Mr. Smith appealed this sentence, claiming it was excessive and violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Additionally, the Supreme Court of Nebraska found Mr. Smith's sentence unconstitutional in light of the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Graham v. Florida where the Court held that it was unconstitutional for a state to impose a sentence of life without parole on a juvenile for the commission of a non-homicide offense.
Summary
In 1983, the defendant, Mr. Smith, was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping, a crime he committed at the age of 16. Subsequently, his life sentence was vacated and he was resentenced to 90 years in prison. Mr. Smith appealed this sentence, arguing that it was excessive and violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
The Supreme Court of Nebraska ultimately found Mr. Smith's sentence unconstitutional, citing the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Graham v. Florida. In Graham, the Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for a state to impose a life sentence without the possibility of parole on a juvenile who committed a non-homicide offense.
Abstract
In 1983, the defendant Mr. Smith was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping which he committed when he was 16 years old. His sentence of life in prison was later vacated and he was resentenced to 90 years in prison. Mr. Smith appealed this sentence, claiming it was excessive and violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Additionally, the Supreme Court of Nebraska found Mr. Smith's sentence unconstitutional in light of the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Graham v. Florida where the Court held that it was unconstitutional for a state to impose a sentence of life without parole on a juvenile for the commission of a non-homicide offense.
Summary
In 1983, Mr. Smith was sentenced to life imprisonment for a kidnapping offense committed when he was 16 years old. The sentence was subsequently vacated and Mr. Smith was resentenced to 90 years in prison. Mr. Smith appealed this sentence, arguing it was excessive and violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The Supreme Court of Nebraska ultimately found Mr. Smith's sentence unconstitutional, aligning with the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Graham v. Florida. In Graham, the Court determined that sentencing juveniles to life without parole for non-homicide offenses was unconstitutional.
Abstract
In 1983, the defendant Mr. Smith was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping which he committed when he was 16 years old. His sentence of life in prison was later vacated and he was resentenced to 90 years in prison. Mr. Smith appealed this sentence, claiming it was excessive and violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Additionally, the Supreme Court of Nebraska found Mr. Smith's sentence unconstitutional in light of the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Graham v. Florida where the Court held that it was unconstitutional for a state to impose a sentence of life without parole on a juvenile for the commission of a non-homicide offense.
Summary
In 1983, Mr. Smith was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping, a crime he committed when he was only 16 years old. Later, his life sentence was changed to 90 years in prison.
Mr. Smith appealed this new sentence, arguing it was too harsh and went against the Eighth Amendment which protects people from cruel and unusual punishments. His argument was based on the Supreme Court's 2011 ruling in the Graham v. Florida case. In Graham, the Court decided that it was unconstitutional for a state to give a juvenile a life sentence without the possibility of parole for a crime that wasn't murder.
Abstract
In 1983, the defendant Mr. Smith was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping which he committed when he was 16 years old. His sentence of life in prison was later vacated and he was resentenced to 90 years in prison. Mr. Smith appealed this sentence, claiming it was excessive and violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Additionally, the Supreme Court of Nebraska found Mr. Smith's sentence unconstitutional in light of the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Graham v. Florida where the Court held that it was unconstitutional for a state to impose a sentence of life without parole on a juvenile for the commission of a non-homicide offense.
Summary
Mr. Smith was sent to jail for a very long time when he was 16 years old. He was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping.
Later, his sentence was changed to 90 years in prison. Mr. Smith thought this sentence was too long and unfair. He said it went against a rule in the Constitution called the Eighth Amendment. This amendment says that punishments shouldn’t be cruel or unusual.
The Supreme Court of Nebraska agreed with Mr. Smith. They said his sentence was unfair based on a different case from 2011. This case said it’s not fair for someone who’s not an adult to be in prison for life if they didn’t commit a murder.