United States Ninth Circuit

A sentence of 28 years to life imprisonment under California's "Three Strikes" law violates the Eighth Amendment where: 1) the offense was Petitioner's failure to update his annual sex offender registration within five working days of his birthday; and 2) he was living at his registered address throughout the relevant time period. Habeas relief is warranted because the state court's application of the gross disproportionality principle was objectively unreasonable.

Appellate Information

• Argued 04/09/2008
• Decided 12/30/2008
• Published 12/30/2008

Judges

• BYBEE, Circuit Judge:, Before:  WILLIAM C. CANBY, JR., ANDREW J. KLEINFELD, and JAY S. BYBEE, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Sean K. Kennedy, Federal Public Defender, Gia Kim (argued), Deputy Federal Public Defender, Los Angeles, CA, for the petitioner-appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General of the State of California, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Kenneth C. Byrne, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, Carl N. Henry (argued), Deputy Attorney General, Los Angeles, CA, for the respondent-appellee.