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State v. Green7/30/1998
efore, the issue is whether sentencing a thirteen-year-old to life imprisonment for first-degree sexual offense complies with evolving standards of decency so as not to be cruel and unusual punishment.
Examination of recent legislative history establishes that the legislature's reduction of the transfer age from fourteen to thirteen years was a reasonable reaction to a genuine public concern over the increase in violent juvenile offenders such as defendant. In 1993, 1,070 juveniles under the age of fifteen were arrested for violent crimes, an increase of over 249% from 1984. State of North Carolina Uniform Crime Report 1994, at 155, 157, State Bureau of Investigation, Raleigh, N.C. (July 1995). This reflected an overall increase in juvenile arrests, which increased 191% from 1984 to 1993. Id. at 157. Public concern over rising crime served as the impetus for the Governor to call the General Assembly into an extra session in 1994 devoted exclusively to crime. In the proclamation establishing the extra session, the Governor pronounced, "Crime is the most urgent issue facing our State." Proclamation by Governor James B. Hunt, Feb. 8, 1994, Raleigh, N.C., printed in N.C. House Journal 9, Extra Session 1994. Noting the state was facing a "crisis in crime," the Governor convened the General Assembly "for the purpose of considering legislation to . . . toughen punishment for youthful offenders." Id. at 10.
At legislative hearings, city and county officials, prosecutors, judges, educators, juvenile social service providers, police officers, crime victims and many others voiced their concerns and suggestions about stemming rising crime rates. Verbatim Transcript, Public Hearings before the Senate of the N.C. General Assembly Sitting as a Committee of the Whole in Extra Session on Crime, Feb. 8-9, 1994, Raleigh, N.C., printed in N.C. Senate Journal, Extra Session 1994. Chief among the concerns, especially among city and county leaders, was the growing number of younger and younger violent offenders. Id. at 245-46, 249. Pasquotank County Commissioner Zee Lamb noted, "School and juvenile violence . . . has our citizens up in arms." Id. at 251. Giving several examples of violent youthful offenders, District Court Judge Margaret Sharpe testified, "It's not unusual to see 11-12-13-year-olds committing rape and other serious sexual assaults." Id. at 328. In discussing how to deal with these juveniles, High Point Mayor Rebecca Smothers, stated that " he current juvenile code is hopelessly outdated," id. at 249, and District Attorney for the First Judicial District H.P. Williams explained, "in our juvenile system . . . there are no consequences, and as a result of there being no consequences, there's no reason [for juveniles] to behave," id. at 264. As a result of deficiencies in the juvenile system, Chief District Court Judge for the Fifth Judicial District Jacqueline Morris-Goodson testified, "by the time that we are getting these young people, many of them are in open rebellion against all authority. We ask [as district court Judges] that you give us some means to detain them. You have basically taken away the opportunity that we have to say to young people when they come to us, that the court means business about what we say to you, and that we will back it up." Id. at 291.
These concerns and suggestions resulted in numerous pieces of legislation affecting juvenile offenders during the crime session. In addition to lowering the minimum transfer age, the legislature passed laws permitting the use of juvenile records in the guilt phase of later adult trials, prohibiting the expunction of juvenile records for certain severe offenses, requiring probable-cause hearings in all potential transfer cases, man
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