Speelruimte voor transparantere rechtspraak - Wetenschappelijke ...

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speelruimte voor transparantere rechtspraak
The United States Supreme Court,
On the issue raised by petitioner;
Given Amendment viii to the Constitution;
Whereas cruel and unusual punishments shall not be inflicted; (geldend recht)
Whereas petitioner, after violating the conditions of his probation, was convicted by the Florida
trial court on charges of armed burglary and armed robbery, committed when petitioner was not
yet 18, and sentenced to life in prison without parole; (feiten)
Whereas the First District Court of Appeal of Florida affirmed petitioner’s conviction by the
Florida trial court, the Florida Supreme Court denied review, and the United States Supreme
Court granted certiorari; (procedurele voorgeschiedenis)
Whereas the Court of Appeal concluded that petitioner’s sentence was not grossly disproportionate
to his crimes and that petitioner was incapable of rehabilitation; (bestreden uitspraak)
Whereas, in view of the concept of proportionality being central to the Eighth Amendment,
a categorical challenge to a term-of-years sentence requires consideration of objective indicia
of society’s standards, as expressed in legislative enactments and state practice, to determine
whether there is a national consensus against the sentencing practice at issue; whereas additionally
exercise of independent judicial judgment is required to determine whether the punishment
in question violates the Constitution, taking into account the culpability of petitioner in light
of his crimes and characteristics, along with the severity of the punishment in question, as well as
the penological justifications for the sentencing practice at issue; whereas the climate of international
opinion concerning the acceptability of a particular punishment is not irrelevant; (juridische
analyse)
Whereas the Constitution prohibits the imposition of a life without parole sentence on a juvenile
offender who did not commit homicide; (juridische conclusie)
On these grounds, reverses the judgment of the First District Court of Appeal of Florida and
remands the case for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. (uitspraak)
Het leerzame aan een exercitie als deze is dat zij futiel is. De pijn zit natuurlijk
vooral in de juridische analyse. Waar die naar Amerikaanse begrippen volstrekt
ontoereikend is uitgewerkt, gaat die naar Franse begrippen juist veel te ver.
Eerst het Amerikaanse perspectief. De daadwerkelijke opinie van het us
Supreme Court in deze zaak telt 32 pagina’s – de samenvatting (4 blz.),
de bijlage (3 blz.), de concurrence (12 blz.) en de twee dissents (2 resp. 29 blz.)
niet meegeteld. Kenmerkend voor meerderheidsopinies van het Court is dat
zij veel verwijzingen naar eerdere uitspraken bevatten – conform de leer van