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Article: State v. Buchhold: the South Dakota Supreme Court fails to recognize a de facto life sentence as the functional equivalent of a life sentence when determining gross disproportionality.
- Article from:
- South Dakota Law Review
- Article date:
- March 22, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 South Dakota Law Review. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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I. INTRODUCTION
In State v. Buchhold, (1) the South Dakota Supreme Court missed an opportunity to reinforce the importance of critical pre-sentencing considerations. The court had created a line of cases explaining the need to analyze certain factors before sentencing a defendant to life in prison because of the inherent significance of a life sentence. (2) However, in Buchhold, the court failed to recognize that a de facto (3) life sentence should require the same analysis by a sentencing court as a de jure (4) life sentence. (5)
The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. (6) The United States Supreme ...