Court Opinion

ID: 9489473
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:16:59.162472+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:53:33.445301
License: Public Domain

PREGERSON, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I dissent.
On appeal Harris, in my view, makes a persuasive argument that Washington’s aggravated murder statute is unconstitutionally ambiguous because it does not evince the legislature’s clear intent to impose a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole on juveniles under the age of 16. Harris argues that even though a Washington statute, R.C.W. 13.40.110, provides that some 15-year olds may be channeled into the adult criminal justice process, that statute alone does not constitute the Washington legislature’s affirmative endorsement of a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for juvenile convicts under the age of 16.
In Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815, 826 n. 24, 850, 108 S.Ct. 2687, 2694 n. 24, 2707, 101 L.Ed.2d 702 (1988), the Supreme Court rejected the state’s argument that when a juvenile is deemed fit to stand trial as an adult, he is also subject to all adult penalties. The Court stated that when a legislature allows juveniles to be processed through the adult criminal justice system “it does not necessarily follow that the legislature ... deliberately concluded that it would be appropriate to impose capital punishment on [juveniles].” Id. at 850, 108 S.Ct. at 2707. The Court explained that the limited capacity of the juvenile system to rehabilitate serious juvenile offenders did not render those juveniles death-eligible. Id.
Under R.C.W. 13.40.110, the Washington juvenile court has the discretion to decline jurisdiction over juvenile offenders. In exer*587cising that discretion, the juvenile court may consider the seriousness of the offense and whether the juvenile justice system can adequately protect the public and rehabilitate the defendant. State v. Holland, 98 Wash.2d 507, 656 P.2d 1056 (1983). However, it does not necessarily follow from R.C.W. 13.40.110 that the Washington legislature deliberately concluded that it would be appropriate to impose the penalty of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on juvenile offenders under the age of 16. Thompson, 487 U.S. at 850, 108 S.Ct. at 2707. Indeed, in the State of Washington, Harris and his code-fendant, Massey, are the only juveniles under the age of 16 who are presently serving a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Few, if any, state legislatures have imposed a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole on juvenile offenders under the age of 16. In the absence of the Washington legislature’s explicit intent to do so, I do not believe that we should sanction imposing such an extreme penalty on Harris. See Thompson, 487 U.S. at 849, 108 S.Ct. at 2706-07. I would grant habeas relief.