State of Washington v. Bassett

This court case is completed

In this case, the ACLU urged the Washington Supreme Court to allow juveniles and young adults to challenge the draconian adult sentences imposed on them, because youth has been recognized as a mitigating factor in sentencing. The case involved the re-imposition of three life without parole sentences on a man who murdered his family when he was 16 years old. The sentence precluded him from ever requesting release, despite the significant rehabilitation he had demonstrated in the 20 years he had been in prison. The ACLU brief argued this violated the state constitution.