Staff Writer
Juveniles, the legal community and the media are awaiting a decision from the United States Supreme Court on whether or not life sentences for juveniles convicted of non-homicide crimes are cruel and unusual punishment. A decision is expected in April, but the court has until the end of June to offer a decision.
Members of the Jacksonville legal community presented both sides of the argument to the Supreme Court Nov. 9, 2009, in Graham v. Florida. Attorney Bryan Gowdy, of Mills Creed & Gowdy, represents Terrance Jamar Graham, now 23, who was convicted of armed robbery when he was 16 and a parole violation when he was 17. Florida Solicitor General, and former Jacksonville attorney, Scott Makar represented the State in the case.
“This case is important because kids are different,” said Gowdy. “In punishing kids, the criminal justice system needs to take into account that they are less culpable and more impressionable. They have an ability to change and reform as they get older. Imposing the very harshest punishment on them is problematic.”
Gowdy made it clear that his is not a blanket statement covering all crimes committed by juveniles.
“The sentences we are talking about here are the sentences that send kids to prison for life without ever having the chance to get back out,” said Gowdy. “My client, Terrence Graham, may have done some bad things at 16-17, but we don’t know how he is going to be at age 47.”
Presenting this argument is but one part of the practice of law. Gowdy spent endless hours researching, preparing briefs and practicing for the oral argument. High profile cases also involve handling media requests and local firm LegalPR has been hired to coordinate that effort.
“The coverage of this case fills a binder that is four inches thick from news organizations from all over the world, including London and Paris,” said Doug Perkins, of LegalPR. “Handling media requests, on a good day it’s a zoo. On a bad day it’s like a cyclone hitting you, so Mills Creed & Gowdy hired us to smooth out that process.”
Stateside publications that have covered the progress of the case include The New York Times, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor and National Public Radio.
“The national media has been more interested in the case than the local media,” said Gowdy. “We were familiar with LegalPR and they were local. We had someone coordinating media contact before, but they weren’t local.”
The attention the case has gotten can be attributed to Gowdy’s argument that a life sentence for a minor, who hasn’t taken a life while committing a crime, is cruel and unusual punishment, which is prohibited by the VIII Amendment. (Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishment inflicted.)
“From constitutional law perspective, the thing that is new about this case is the cruel and unusual punishment clause having meaning outside of the death penalty,” said Gowdy. “(The Courts) have not invalidated other punishments as cruel and unusual.”
All of the attorneys at Mills Creed & Gowdy, John Mills, Rebecca Bowen Creed, Gowdy and Jessie Harrell, have contributed to Graham’s defense along with the firm of Morrison & Foerster, Drew Days, III, Brian Matsui, Seth Galanter and George Harris.
356-2466