State v. Van Kleeck

The defendant, a 40-year-old mother, admittedly hilled her three boys, aged six, four and eight months, by drowning them in a bathtub and then cutting their throats. She was charged with first-degree murder. Her defense was insanity. The jury found her guilty of second-degree murder, and the court sentenced her to 25 years in the penitentiary.

She appeals solely upon the ground that the sentence was invalid because it was in violation of the state and federal constitutional provisions prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. She also…