Legal Opinion · Dissent
People v. Jones
New York Court of Appeals
Decided June 8, 1976Published
1Dissent
Chief Judge Breitel (dissenting).
The mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, really lifetime parole, imposed in this case is unconscionable and barbaric because of the gross inequality of treatment of like persons involved in the identical crime. Since the earliest conscious evolution of justice in western society, the dominating principle has been that of equality of treatment of like persons similarly situated, a principle at the root of any rational system of justice (Aristotle, Ethica Nicomachea, [Ross ed], book V, pars 1129a, 1131a; see Friedmann, Legal Theory [5th ed], at p 416;…
2Cases cited11 opinions
- North Carolina v. PearceSupreme Court of the United States · 1969
- Furman v. GeorgiaSupreme Court of the United States · 1972
- Skinner v. Oklahoma Ex Rel. WilliamsonSupreme Court of the United States · 1942
- Williams v. IllinoisSupreme Court of the United States · 1970
- People v. BroadieNew York Court of Appeals · 1975
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