The PEOPLE v. Luckey

In a 1965 jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County, defendant, Jack Luckey, was found guilty of the unlawful sale of narcotics. Because of a previous Illinois narcotics violation, a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment was imposed, pursuant to the terms of section 38 of the Uniform Narcotic Drug Act. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1965, chap. 38, par. 22 — 40.) His conviction was affirmed by the appellate court (90 Ill. App. 2d 325) and we granted leave to appeal.

In this court, defendant attacks the constitutionality of the following provision of section 38 which reads:

“Whoever violates this Act…