Griffin v. Commissioner of Correction

Summary

The opinion concurs in the conclusion that transferring the petitioner from juvenile court to the regular criminal docket was constitutional. It dissents from the conclusion that later parole eligibility remedied the constitutional defect in the petitioner's original forty-year sentence, arguing that the petitioner was entitled to a new sentencing proceeding that considered the mitigating characteristics of youth. The opinion maintains that administrative difficulty and the passage of time do not excuse the need for a meaningful constitutional remedy.