Opinion
No. 186, 2009, ID No. 9604017809.
May 20, 2010.
Ms. Cathy Howard, Clerk of the Supreme Court, Supreme Court of Delaware, Dover, DE.
Dear Ms. Howard:
On May 14, 2010, I issued the decision called for by the Supreme Court's remand. You accepted the file on Saturday, May 15, 2010. As it happened, on Monday, May 17, 2010, the United States Supreme Court issued Graham v. Florida. Graham extends the rule announced in Roper v. Simmons. Roper holds that applying the death penalty to a juvenile is unconstitutional. Following the reasoning in Roper, Graham holds that the Constitution also prohibits sentencing a juvenile to life without probation or parole. I have considered Graham and I do not believe it has any bearing on this case. Basically, as mentioned above, Graham merely expands the holding in Roper. Otherwise, Graham endorses the categorical distinction between adults and juveniles for sentencing purposes.
___ U.S. ___, ___ S.Ct. ___, ___ L.Ed.2d ___ 2010 WL 1946731 (2010).
543 U.S. 551 (2005).
Please convey my thoughts about Graham to the Court. My hope is that this letter will make it unnecessary for further remand to allow this court to address Graham.