Ruiz v. Pritzker et al
Filing
42
MEMORANDUM Opinion and Order Signed by the Honorable John Robert Blakey on 3/26/2024. Mailed notice(gel, )
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
ISRAEL RUIZ,
Plaintiff,
Case No. 22-cv-07171
v.
J.B. PRITZKER, ROB JEFFREYS,
EDITH CRIGLER, and KWAME RAOUL,
Judge John Robert Blakey
Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
In this action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Plaintiff Israel Ruiz, an
individual presently incarcerated at Dixon Correctional Center, sues Defendants,
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Illinois Department of Corrections (“IDOC”) Director
Latoya Hughes, 1 IDOC Chair Donald Shelton, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame
Raoul, in their official capacities, for enacting, enforcing, and implementing Public
Act 100-1182. 2 [24]. Plaintiff alleges that the Act’s prospective-only application
violates his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause
(Count I) and the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause
(Count II).
Defendants move to dismiss the Complaint. [25]. For the reasons explained
below, the Court grants Defendants’ motion to dismiss.
This Court automatically substitutes Acting Director Latoya Hughes for Former Director Rob
Jeffreys, and Acting IDOC Chair Donald Shelton for Former Chair Edith Crigler, pursuant to Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d).
1
2
730 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/5-4/5-115 (2023).
1
I.
Factual Background 3
This case arises from the enactment of Public Act 100-1182, an amendment to
the Illinois Unified Code of Corrections that establishes a new parole system for
certain youth offenders who were sentenced on or after June 1, 2019. Id. ¶ 24; 730
Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/5-4/5-115 4 (“the Act”).
The Act provides, in relevant part, that a
person convicted of first-degree murder, committed when they were under 21 years
of age, shall be eligible for parole review after serving 20 years or more of his or her
sentence. Id. ¶ 25; see 730 Ill. Comp Stat. 5/5-4/5-115(b). Governor Pritzker signed
the Act into law on April 1, 2019; it became effective June 1, 2019, and applies only
to offenders sentenced on or after that date. Id. ¶¶ 2, 23.
Plaintiff was convicted of a murder that occurred on November 7, 1998, when
he was 18 years old; he was sentenced on June 29, 2000, to 40 years in prison without
the possibility of parole and remains incarcerated to this day at Dixon Correctional
Center. Id. ¶¶ 12, 20–22. If the Act applied retrospectively, Plaintiff would be
eligible for parole review. Id ¶ 4.
The Complaint alleges that the impetus for the Act arose from the Illinois
General Assembly’s recognition about the brain maturation of youth offenders. See
id. ¶ 31. For example, when the Act was debated in the Illinois Senate, Senator Don
Harmon stated, “the science of brain development suggests that young people don’t
reach the age of fully formed brains at eighteen or at twenty-one.” Id. ¶ 29. Plaintiff
The Court draws the following facts from Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint, [24], which it takes as true
at this stage. See Bible v. United Student Aid Funds, Inc., 799 F.3d 633, 639 (7th Cir. 2015).
3
4
The Act was formerly 730 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/5-4.5-110.
2
alleges that this scientific development regarding brain maturity applies no
differently to offenders who were sentenced before June 1, 2019, yet the Act creates
“two different parole systems for individuals convicted or similar or different crimes
solely based on their date of sentencing.” Id. ¶¶ 35, 38. As a result, Plaintiff sues
Defendants seeking an Order declaring that the Act’s prospective-only application
violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Count I) and
the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment (Count II),
enjoining enforcement of the Act on a prospective only basis, and requiring
Defendants to enforce the Act retroactively. Id. ¶¶ 53, 62.
I.
Legal Standard
Under Federal Rule Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) a defendant may move to dismiss
a complaint for “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R.
Civ. P. 12(b)(6). A motion to dismiss “tests the sufficiency of the complaint, not the
merits of the case.” McReynolds v. Merrill Lynch Co., Inc., 694 F.3d 873, 878 (7th Cir.
2012). When considering a motion to dismiss, the Court views the complaint in the
light most favorable to the Plaintiff, accepts as true all well-pleaded allegations, and
draws all inferences in favor of the Plaintiff. Roe v. Dettelbach, 59 F.4th 255, 262 (7th
Cir. 2023).
To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must provide the defendant with
fair notice of the claim and its bases and state the grounds for relief. Bell Atl. Corp.
v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). Additionally, a claim must provide factual
statements that are plausible on their face, and allow the Court “to draw a reasonable
3
inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009).
II.
Analysis
Defendants move to dismiss all claims against them for failure to state a claim.
[4].
As a threshold matter, Defendants argue that the Eleventh Amendment
immunizes Governor Pritzker, Attorney General Raoul, and Acting Director Hughes
from suit. Id. 5 The Court will first address whether the Eleventh Amendment bars
the claims against these Defendants, and then turn to the sufficiency of the
allegations to state a claim under the Fourteenth and Eighth Amendments.
A. Sovereign Immunity
State officials are generally immune from suit in their official capacities under
the Eleventh Amendment. Whole Woman’s Health, et al., v. Jackson, 595 U.S. 30, 39
(2021) (citing Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706, 713 (1999)). Under Ex Parte Young,
however, a plaintiff may sue state officials to enjoin the enforcement of an allegedly
unconstitutional statute where the official has “some connection with the
enforcement of the act”; otherwise, the suit “is merely making him a party as a
representative of the state, and thereby attempting to make the state a party.” 209
U.S. 123, 157, 159–61 (1908). To survive dismissal then, Plaintiff must plausibly
allege that “the named state official plays some role in enforcing the statute.” Doe v.
Holcomb, 883 F.3d 971, 975 (7th Cir. 2018). Although it need not be exclusive, the
official must have some enforcement power—a party “whose prospective action would
5
IDOC Chair Donald Shelton does not claim immunity under the Eleventh Amendment.
4
violate federal law.” See Bowling v. Pence, 39 F.Supp.3d 1025, 1029 (S.D. Ind. 2014)
(citing Ameritech Corp. v. McCann, 297 F.3d 582, 585-86 (7th Cir. 2002)); see also
Deida v. City of Milwaukee, 192 F. Supp. 2d 899, 915 (E.D. Wis. 2002) (“Essentially,
plaintiffs wishing to file suit under Ex Parte Young must make sure that they name
the right defendant, meaning the official that state law empowers to enforce the
challenged statute.”). To determine whether the named official has a sufficient
connection to enforcement, the Court looks to the official’s “duties and powers under
state law.” See Deida, 192 F.Supp.2d at 914 (citing Sherman v. Cmty. Consol. Sch.
Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 441 (7th Cir. 1992)).
Here, Defendants contend that Governor Pritzker, Attorney General Raoul,
and Acting Director Hughes lack the requisite connection to the Act’s enforcement
and are therefore immune from suit under the Eleventh Amendment. [26] at 3. The
Court considers each Defendant in turn.
1. Governor Pritzker
Plaintiff sues Governor Pritzer based upon his role within the executive
branch. See [29] at 6. The Complaint alleges that the IDOC “is an agency within the
executive branch of the government of Illinois” and therefore, “Governor Pritzker has
control and oversight authority over every aspect of the IDOC, including its
implementation and enforcement of various aspects of the Act.” [24] ¶15 (emphasis
added). Plaintiff alleges no other connection to enforcement. See id.
But governors “do not automatically satisfy the ‘some connection’ standard”
simply by virtue of their position within the executive branch. See Eason v. Pritzer
5
No. 18-CV-2553, 2020 WL 6781794, at * 9 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 18, 2020) (citing Young, 209
U.S. at 157); see also Illinois League of Advocs. for the Developmentally, Disabled v.
Quinn, No. 13 C 1300, 2013 WL 5548929, at *3–4 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 8, 2013) (“A theory of
liability predicated on a governor's general obligations as the executive of the State
cannot avoid the consequences of the Eleventh Amendment.”) (collecting cases).
Indeed, the court explained in Ex Parte Young that if governors could be sued based
simply upon their executive role, the exception would swallow the rule:
If, because they were law officers of the state, a case could be made for
the purpose of testing the constitutionality of the statute, by an
injunction suit brought against them, then the constitutionality of every
act passed by the legislature could be tested by a suit against the
governor and the attorney general, based upon the theory that the
former, as the executive of the state, was, in a general sense, charged
with the execution of all its laws, and the latter, as attorney general,
might represent the state in litigation involving the enforcement of its
statutes.
Eason, 2020 WL 6781794, at *8 (citing Young, 209 U.S. at 157).
Instead, to fall within the exception, and obtain prospective injunctive relief,
Plaintiff must plausibly allege that the Governor is specifically involved in enforcing
the Act. See Holcomb, 883 F.3d at 976 (rejecting Ex Parte Young exception where
governor was not “specifically charged with a duty to enforce” the challenged namechange statute, and “had not taken any action to enforce” the statute, and noting the
“mere fact that a governor is under a general duty to enforce state laws does not make
him a proper defendant in every action attacking the constitutionality of a state
statute”); H.O.P.E., Inc. v. Eden Mgmt. LLC, 2017 WL 4339824, at *8–9 (N.D. Ill.
2017) (holding governor had “some connection” to enforcement of a program where
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the “governor’s office issued notices” concerning a state program); Love v. Pence, 47
F. Supp.3d 805, 808–09 (S.D. Ind. 2014) (holding governor had “some connection” to
enforcing a state law where the governor issued “instructions to state agencies” on
compliance) (emphasis in original).
Eason remains particularly instructive. There, the plaintiff, a partially deaf
prisoner in the custody of the IDOC, brought an Ex Parte Young action against
Governor Pritzer, and others, alleging that the governor violated his constitutional
rights for failing to accommodate his disability. Eason, 2020 WL 6781794, at *9. The
court held that the Eleventh Amendment barred suit against Governor Pritzker
because the plaintiff did not allege “any meaningful connection” between the governor
and the challenged prison policies for disabled inmates, alleging only that the
Governor has “oversight responsibility” over all state agencies and employees. Id.
This single allegation revealed what the plaintiff was “trying to achieve—an
injunction against the Governor because he’s the Governor,” the “top official in the
executive branch in state government.” Id.
Here too, Plaintiff has failed to allege any meaningful connection between the
Governor and the alleged enforcement of the Act, beyond a single paragraph stating
that the Governor has “control and oversight authority” because the IDOC is “an
agency within the executive branch.” See [24] ¶ 15; see also [29] at 6 (“Defendant
Pritzker is alleged to have a specific connection to enforcement of the Parole Act
through his control and oversight” of the IDOC). Simply overseeing the IDOC—
which, along with the Parole Review Board, actually enforces and implements the
7
Act—remains insufficient under Ex Parte Young.
Therefore, the Eleventh
Amendment thus bars this suit against Defendant Pritzker, and this Court dismisses
Plaintiff’s claims against him.
2. Attorney General Raoul
Plaintiff also sues Attorney General Raoul based upon his executive branch
position.
Plaintiff alleges that as the Attorney General of the State of Illinois,
Defendant Raoul is “responsible for enforcing the laws of the State of Illinois
including the Act.” See [24] ¶ 18.
The principles articulated above apply with equal force to the Illinois Attorney
General. The Seventh Circuit has held that an attorney general’s broad power to
enforce state law is insufficient, on its own, to make him subject to suit. See Sherman,
980 F.2d at 441. Attorney General Raoul cannot be sued solely based upon his “duty
to support the constitutionality of a state statute.” Holcomb, 883 F.3d at 976 (citing
Mendez v. Heller, 530 F.2d 457, 460 (2d Cir. 1976)).
If the Act contained an enforcement provision or penalty clause that implicated
the attorney general’s power to enforce the Act, Plaintiff’s claim might fall within Ex
Parte Young. For example, in Entm’t Software Ass’n v. Blagojevich, the Seventh
Circuit held that the Ex Parte Young exception applied where the challenged statute
included a penalty provision enabling the attorney general to prosecute under the
statute, and the attorney general conceded he had power to enforce the statute
concurrent with the State’s Attorney. 469 F.3d 651, 645 (7th Cir. 2006). See also
Heabler v. Madigan, No. 12 C 6193, 2013 WL 5405679, at *4 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 24, 2013)
8
(noting that if statute’s penalty provisions implicated attorney general’s concurrent
power to enforce Illinois law, he might be a proper defendant).
But the Act here contains no such provision, and Plaintiff does not allege
anything in particular with regard to enforcement. As a result, any attempt to bring
his claim within the parameters of Ex Parte Young fails. See Holcomb, 993 F.3d at
977 (holding Eleventh Amendment barred suit against Indiana Attorney General
where Attorney General had not “threatened to do anything and could not do
anything to prosecute a violation of the challenge statute” because there were no
criminal penalties for violating same).
In his Response, Plaintiff does not refute Defendants’ contention that Attorney
General Raoul cannot be sued solely based upon his responsibility to enforce the laws
of the State of Illinois. See [29] at 6. Plaintiff instead argues that Attorney General
Raoul’s connection to enforcement is based upon his “specific role in directing and
counseling enforcement of the Act as legal counsel to the IDOC.” Id. But as noted
above, the fact that the “attorney general, might represent the state in litigation
involving the enforcement of its statutes” is not a sufficient nexus to enforcement to
satisfy the “some connection” standard. See, e.g., Eason, 2020 WL 6781794, at *8
(citing Young, 209 U.S. at 157). As Defendants correctly note, although Attorney
General Raoul, in his role as a legal representative to the IDOC, may be tasked with
supporting the constitutionality of the Act, that is distinct from enforcing the Act.
See [26] at 4–5.
9
Fatal to Plaintiff’s claim against Attorney General Raoul, the Complaint
contains no allegations from which this Court can plausibly infer that he has any
specific power at all to enforce the Act.
See Holcomb, 993 F.3d at 977 (citing
Children's Healthcare is a Legal Duty, Inc. v. Deters, 92 F.3d 1412, 1415 (6th Cir.
1996) (“Young does not apply when a defendant state official has neither enforced nor
threatened to enforce the allegedly unconstitutional state statute.”)). This Court’s
“ultimate inquiry” is whether Attorney General Raoul’s connection to the
enforcement of the Act is “sufficiently intimate to meet the requirements of Ex Parte
Young.” Id. (citing Shell Oil Co. v. Noel, 608 F.2d 208, 210 (1st Cir. 1979)). Based
upon the Complaint’s allegations, the answer to that inquiry is “no.” Accordingly, the
Eleventh Amendment bars Plaintiff’s suit against Attorney General Raoul, and this
Court dismisses Plaintiff’s claims against him.
3. Acting Director Hughes
Plaintiff’s allegations with respect to Acting Director Hughes are materially
different. The Complaint alleges that IDOC Director Hughes and the IDOC
“implement and enforce various aspects of the Act.” [24] ¶ 17. This is confirmed by
the language of the Act itself; the Act specifies that a IDOC representative “shall meet
with the eligible person and provide the inmate information about the parole hearing
process and personalized recommendations for the inmate regarding his or her work
assignments, rehabilitative programs, and institutional behavior.” 730 Ill. Comp
Stat. 5/5-4.5-115(d). Thus, the Act specifically tasks the IDOC, and by direct
implication its Director, with implementing and enforcing the Act’s provisions.
10
Therefore, in contrast with the allegations concerning Defendants Pritzker and
Raoul, the Complaint does sufficiently allege that Hughes, as the Acting Director of
the IDOC, has “some connection” to the enforcement of the Act. Young, 209 U.S. at
159. Although Defendants argue that Hughes plays no role in “determining who is
eligible for parole,” [26] at 5, the Complaint plausibly alleges that Hughes plays a
role in enforcing the Act, see [24] ¶ 16, and the Court accepts the allegations as true
at this stage. As a result, the Ex Parte Young doctrine applies to Acting Director
Hughes, and the Eleventh Amendment does not bar this suit against him. 6
Having dismissed Plaintiff’s claims against Defendants Pritzker and Raoul,
the Court will now address the sufficiency of the allegations against the remaining
defendants, Acting Director Hughes and IDOC Chair Donald Shelton.
B. Equal Protection Claim (Count I)
The Equal Protection Clause provides that all people who are “similarly
situated should be treated alike.” West v. Radtke, 48 F.4th 836, 851 (7th Cir. 2022)
(quoting City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432, 439 (1985)). Where
a law’s classification involves neither a fundamental right nor suspect classification,
it must only withstand rational basis review. See Armour v. City of Indianapolis, 566
In addition to injunctive relief, Plaintiff also requests a declaratory judgment that the Act “only
prospectively violates Plaintiff’s rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment” and “only prospectively constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, thereby violating
Plaintiffs’ rights under the Eighth Amendment.” [24] at 9. The Seventh Circuit has held that
“declaratory relief should not be awarded where the eleventh amendment bars an award of monetary
or injunctive relief; otherwise, the relief would operate as a means of avoiding the amendment's
bar.” Council 31 of the Am. Fed’n of State, Cnty. & Mun. Emps., AFL-CIO v. Quinn, 680 F.3d 875,
883 (7th Cir. 2012) (quoting MSA Realty Corp. v. Ill., 990 F.2d 288, 295 (7th Cir. 1993) (internal
quotations omitted)). Accordingly, Plaintiff’s request for a declaratory judgment can only survive to
the extent that it hinges upon Plaintiff’s claims against Defendants Hughes and Shelton, which are
not barred by the Eleventh Amendment.
6
11
U.S. 673, 680 (2012).
The parties agree that the Act is subject to this deferential
standard. [26] at 6; [27] at 9.
Under rational basis review, an act is presumed constitutional unless it lacks
a rational basis. Armour, 566 U.S. at 680. A rational basis exists if “there is a rational
relationship between the disparity of treatment and some legitimate government
purpose.”
Id. at 680 (citing Heller v. Doe, 509 U.S. 312, 319–20 (1993)).
The
government’s classification “will not be set aside if any state of facts reasonably may
be conceived to justify it.” See Wroblewski v. City of Washburn, 965 F.2d 452, 459–60
(7th Cir. 1992); see also FCC v. Beach Commc'ns., Inc. 508 U.S. 307, 313 (1993)
(holding rational basis exists if “there is any reasonably conceivable state of facts that
could provide a rational basis for the classification”).
To survive a motion to dismiss, Plaintiff “must allege facts to overcome the
presumption of rationality that applies to government classifications.” See Flying J
Inc. v. City of New Haven, 549 F.3d 538 (7th Cir. 2008) (quoting Wroblewski, 965 F.2d
at 459–60). Plaintiff has not done so.
For their part, Defendants assert that a rational basis for the disparate
treatment exists because “applying the Act retroactively would require providing
parole hearings for any individual who was under the age of 21 at the time of the
offense and convicted of first-degree murder at any time prior to June 1, 2019,” which
“would place a significant burden on the courts and prison system.”
[26] at 8.
Plaintiff counters that no rational basis exists for treating youth offenders differently
based solely on the date they were sentenced, and any “burden argument is
12
nonsensical” because the burden of housing an inmate would outweigh any burden
imposed by the need for additional parole hearings. [29] at 11. 7 The Seventh Circuit
rejected similar arguments in United States v. Speed, 656 F.3d 714, 720 (7th Cir.
2011), and United States v. Sanders, 909 F.3d 895, 905 (7th Cir. 2018).
In Speed, the court reviewed a defendant’s equal protection challenge to the
Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (“FSA”), Pub.L. No. 111-220, 124 Stat. 2372. Had the
FSA applied retroactively, the defendant would not have received a mandatory life
sentence, but rather would have been subject to a mandatory sentence of ten years.
Id. at 719. Applying rational basis review, the Court explained, that this stark
discrepancy was “plainly rational” because “discrepancies among persons who
committed similar crimes are inescapable whenever Congress raises or lowers the
penalties for an offense.” Id. at 720 (citing United States v. Goncalves, 642 F.3d 245,
253 (1st Cir. 2011)).
Subsequently, in Sanders, the plaintiff challenged California’s Proposition 47,
which applied only prospectively, under the Equal Protection Clause. 909 F.3d at
905. Like the plaintiff here, Sanders argued that the statute at issue lacked a rational
basis because it arbitrarily created “two classes” of offenders solely based upon when
the individual committed their predicate offenses. Id. Once again, the court found
that distinction rational based upon the reasoning in Speed, explaining, “whenever a
7
Plaintiff relies on People v. Metlock, in which the Illinois Court of Appeals indicated in dicta that the
Act lacks a rational basis for the prospective only application. No. 1-17-0946, 2021 WL 1206156, at
*11 (Ill. App. Ct. Mar. 30, 2021). But the same court in People v. Profit found a rational basis for
prospective only application of the Act and rejected the rationale in Metlock as dicta. 218 N.E.3d 495,
504–05 (Ill. App. Ct. 2023). As explained below, this Court is persuaded by the thoughtful analysis in
Profit, 218 N.E.3d at 504.
13
sentencing statute is amended, ‘someone, in the end, will always be left behind to live
with the earlier, harsher penalty.’” Id. at 905–06 (citing Speed, 656 F.3d at 720).
This Court remains bound by the Seventh Circuit’s thoughtful reasoning in
Speed and Sanders, and Plaintiff has failed to allege facts to “overcome the
presumption of rationality” applicable to the Act. See Wroblewski, 965 F.2d at 459–
60. While Plaintiff may find it “nonsensical” to draw the line where Act has, it is
plainly rational, arguably necessary in many cases, for the legislature to limit the
reach of its laws when it lowers the penalties of an offense. See Speed, 656 F.3d at
720.
Furthermore, as the Illinois Court of Appeals recently held, applying the Act
only prospectively serves an additional interest: to avoid “disturbing the victims
whose offenders have already been imprisoned.” People v. Profit, 218 N.E.3d 495, 505
(Ill. App. Ct. 2023). Accordingly, a rational basis exists for the disparity in treatment
Plaintiff challenges. Therefore, the Court grants the Defendants’ request to dismiss
Count I.
C. Cruel and Unusual Punishment Claim (Count II)
In Count II, Plaintiff alleges that the State’s refusal to grant him the parole
eligibility opportunities provided by the Act violates his right to be free from cruel
and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. [24] ¶ 58. The Eighth
Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause contains a “narrow
proportionality principle” applicable to noncapital sentences, which forbids sentences
that are “grossly disproportionate to the crime committed.” United States v. Castro-
14
Aguirre, 983 F.3d 927, 942 (7th Cir. 2020) (citing United States v. Nagel, 559 F.3d
756, 759 (7th Cir. 2009)).
To determine the proportionality of a sentence, courts consider: “(i) the gravity
of the offense and the harshness of the penalty; (ii) the sentences imposed on other
criminals in the same jurisdiction; and (iii) the sentences imposed for commission of
the same crime in other jurisdictions.” Castro-Aguirre, 983 F.3d at 942 (citing Nagel,
559 F.3d at 762). The Supreme Court has stated that the Eighth Amendment
“embodies broad and idealistic concepts of dignity, civilized standards, humanity, and
decency” and thus penalties must be gauged in light of “the evolving standards of
decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.” Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S.
97, 102 (1976) (internal citations omitted).
1. The change in the availability of parole review does not render
Plaintiff’s sentence cruel and unusual.
Plaintiff argues that the purpose of the Eighth Amendment is to “forbid
arbitrary and discriminatory penalties of a severe nature,” and thus the Act violates
the cruel and unusual punishment clause “by imposing an arbitrary punishment
based solely on sentencing date,” that is, a “harsher, longer prison sentence.” [29] at
13 (citing Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 242 (1972)).
As above, the Seventh Circuit has already rejected this argument. See Speed,
656 F.3d at 720. In Speed, the defendant argued that the imposition of a mandatory
life sentence for his crime in light of the enactment of the FSA constituted “cruel and
unusual punishment.”
Id.
He contended that the enactment of the FSA
demonstrates that “society’s ‘standards of decency’ have evolved, such that his
15
mandatory life sentence for such a small amount of crack (less than a five-pound bag
of flour), imposed under the old statutory scheme, is now cruel and unusual.” Id. The
court flatly rejected that argument, explaining that “Congress’s amendment to the
statutory penalties does not transform the preexisting penalty scheme into a cruel
and unusual one.” Id. So too here; the fact that the legislature has amended the
sentencing laws to increase the availability of parole review for juveniles does not
render Plaintiff’s sentence cruel and unusual.
Indeed, if this Court were to accept Plaintiff’s challenge to the Act’s prospective
only application, “every non-retroactive change in criminal penalties would risk
running afoul of the Eighth Amendment merely because those defendants sentenced
before the change faced different penalties than those sentenced after the legislative
change.” United States v. Waite, 12 F.4th 204, 215 (2d Cir. 2021), vacated on other
grounds, 142 S.Ct. 2864 (2022) (rejecting argument that passage of new statute
lessening penalties applicable to crime suggests pre-enactment sentences for the
same crime violate cruel and unusual punishments clause). The Eighth Amendment
“is not a ratchet that makes a harsher system of penalties unconstitutional the
moment a more lenient one is adopted, a theory that would have the perverse effect
of discouraging lawmakers from ever lowering criminal sentences.” United States v.
Blewett, 746 F.3d 647, 660 (6th Cir. 2013).
2. Plaintiff’s 40-year sentence does not violate Miller or its progeny.
In their opening brief, Defendants posit that Plaintiff seeks to proceed under
Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460, 479 (2012), which held that the imposition of a life
16
without parole sentence for juveniles violates the Eighth Amendment unless the
court considers “how children are different, and how those differences counsel against
irrevocably sentencing them to a lifetime in prison.” [26] at 8–9. They then argue
that Miller remains inapplicable, because Plaintiff did not receive a life sentence. Id.
Plaintiff did not receive a life sentence. And, to the extent Plaintiff seeks to
allege that he received a “de facto” life sentence in violation of the Eighth
Amendment, his claim fails. 8 In McKinley v. Butler, the Seventh Circuit held that
Miller may also apply to “de facto” life sentences, sentences where a defendant, even
if not technically sentenced to life, has no possibility for life outside of prison. 809
F.3d 908, 911 (7th Cir. 2016).
But Miller does not impose a categorical constitutional ban on sentencing
juveniles to life without parole; instead, it requires that the defendant’s status as a
juvenile offender be considered by the sentencing judge before imposing a life
sentence, and Plaintiff does not contend that his sentencing judge failed to consider
his juvenile status when sentencing him for murdering his victim. See, e.g., Mitchell
v. Greene, No. 18-cv-04317, 2021 WL 1998237, at *18–22 (N.D. Ill. May 18, 2021)
8
Plaintiff acknowledges in his Response that the Complaint does not allege an Eighth Amendment
claim based upon the theory that his sentence is a de facto life sentence, [29] at 12, but he nonetheless
argues that his sentence does constitute a de facto life sentence, [24] ¶¶ 19–22, 41. In responding to
a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff “may elaborate on his factual allegations so long as the new elaborations
are consistent with the pleadings.” Taha v. Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters, Loc. 781, 947 F.3d 464, 471 (7th
Cir. 2020) (citation omitted). But a plaintiff may not use his response brief to amend his complaint,
Agnew v. Nat'l Collegiate Athletic Ass'n, 683 F.3d 328, 348 (7th Cir. 2012). Although Plaintiff’s
Response certainly toes this line, the Court will treat the Complaint’s allegation regarding the life
expectancy of incarcerated youth, [24] ¶ 41, as support for Plaintiff’s claim that his sentence violates
the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause under Miller and its progeny.
17
(citing Miller, 567 U.S. at 479, 483) (holding petitioner’s failure to contend that
sentencing judge did not take into account his youth in imposing 40-year sentence
was fatal to his Eighth Amendment claim under Miller).
Nor does Plaintiff’s complaint support his “de facto” life sentence claim.
According to his allegations, Plaintiff will be eligible for release from his 40-year
prison sentence at the age of 60. [29] at 13. Although no “precise metric governs”
how long a sentence must be to be considered a de facto life sentence, the Seventh
Circuit has repeatedly held that juveniles who would be first eligible for release in
their late fifties, or even their seventies, did not receive de facto life sentences. See
Mitchell, 2021 WL 1998237, at *8 (holding petitioner did not receive de facto life
sentence where he would be eligible for release from his 40-year sentence at 57 years
old) (citing Kelly v. Brown, 851 F.3d 686, 687 (7th Cir. 2017) (holding 16-year-old who
would first be eligible for parole at 70 did not receive de facto life sentence)); Sanders
v. Ekstein, 981 F.3d 637, 643 (7th Cir. 2020) (affirming conclusion that juvenile first
eligible for release at age 51 did not receive de facto life sentence)); see also Krol v.
Calhoun, No. 16-cv-11595, 2019 WL 5592757, at *14 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 30, 2019)
(affirming conclusion that 35-year murder sentence resulting in release of juvenile
offender at age 56 was not a de facto life sentence under Miller); Johnson v. Brannon,
No. 16-cv-5373, 2021 WL 4146886, at *5 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 13, 2021) (holding defendant
who was 21 when sentence was imposed and would be 61 when he completed his
sentence did not receive a de facto life sentence).
18
In light of these precedents, Plaintiff cannot state a Cruel and Unusual
Punishment claim under Miller. For this reason, and as more fully explained above,
this Court grants Defendants’ motion with respect to Count II.
III.
Conclusion
For the reasons described above, the Court grants Defendants’ motion to
dismiss without prejudice. [25]. Plaintiff may amend his complaint if he can, in good
faith and consistent with Rule 11, set forth factual allegations sufficient to state a
claim consistent with this Court’s ruling and relevant law. Plaintiff shall file an
amended complaint on or before April 15, 2024. If Plaintiff fails to file an amended
complaint by this date, this case will be dismissed.
Dated: March 26, 2024
Entered:
____________________________
John Robert Blakey
United States District Judge
19
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