State v. Bassett

¶ 1 At issue here is the constitutionality of sentencing juvenile offenders to life in prison without the possibility of parole or early release. The State appeals a Court of Appeals, Division Two decision holding that the provision of our state's Miller1 -fix statute that allows 16- and 17-year-olds to be sentenced to life without parole violates the Washington Constitution's ban on cruel punishment. Brian Bassett, recently resentenced to life without parole under the Miller -fix statute, argued at the Court of Appeals that juvenile life without parole is categorically unconstitutional. The…