DENNIS LEBLANC v. RANDALL MATHENA, Chief Warden, Red Onion State Prison, Pound, Virginia; COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit,Wynn , Nov. 7, 2016,
Juvenile Life-Imprisonment – Virginia’s “Conditional release of geriatric prisoners” statute does not meet the Graham standard requiring “meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation” for non-homicide juvenile life-sentences.

Dissent – Niemeyer – Virginia’s implementation is not unreasonable and should receive deference under federal habeas corpus review

Reversed by the Supreme Court

Court’s interpretation of Graham:
(1) that juvenile nonhomicide offenders sentenced to life imprisonment must have the “opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation,” (2) that this opportunity must be “meaningful,” and (3) that the early release or parole system must take into account the lesser culpability of juvenile offenders

The Court reviewed VA’s 2011 decision in Angel, as that’s the last VA decision on point with regard to the law of the state.

Because VA’s implementation of the “Conditional release of geriatric prisoners” statute in its procedure manual allows petitions to be denied without reference to any factors, the Court held that it did not meet the requirements of Graham.

Additionally, it provides one standard age (60) at which an inmate can apply. In the Court’s view, this disproportionately affects juveniles as they will have to serve more of their adult life in prison than adults (though mathematically that’s true of almost any sentence…).