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16 Illinois opinions name it 1 courts 2021–2026 16 in the last five years
The cases below were cited by Illinois courts in a sentence that names this issue. Sides come from how each citing opinion treated the case (Syfertize flag on that citation), so a case can appear on both: that is where the law is contested. A red or yellow chip is the case's own overall treatment.
| Case | Followed | Cited |
|---|---|---|
People v. Millergreen2 sentences2026A sentence violates this clause, when, inter alia, it is “cruel, degrading, or so wholly disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community.” People v. Miller, 202 Ill. 2d 328, 338 (2002) (Leon Miller). ¶ 45 While the United States and Illinois Constitutions provide the right to effective assistance of counsel at trial and on direct appeal, the Act only requires that postconviction counsel give a “reasonable level of assistance” at the second stage. 2026A sentence violates this clause if it is “ ‘cruel, degrading, or so wholly disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community.’ ” Id. (quoting People v. Miller, 202 Ill. 2d 328, 338 (2002)). | 12 | 12 |
People v. Browngreen2 sentences2022App. 3d 1116, 1118 , 874 N.E.2d 607, 608-09 (2007). 2022A sentence violates that clause if the sentence is “so wholly disproportionate to the offense committed as to shock the moral sense of the community.” People v. Brown, 375 Ill. | 1 | 1 |
| Case | Negative | Cited |
|---|---|---|
| No negative-treatment citations attached to this issue in Illinois. Read the followed side critically anyway. | ||
| Case | Cited | Years |
|---|---|---|
People v. Hilliard
green
2 sentences2026A sentence violates this clause if it is “cruel, degrading, or so wholly disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) People v. Hilliard, 2023 IL 128186, ¶ 20 . 2025A sentence violates the clause if “the punishment for the offense is cruel, degrading, or so wholly disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) People v. Hilliard, 2023 IL 128186, ¶ 20 . | 2 | 2025–2026 |
People v. Ligon
green
2 sentences2023A sentence violates this clause when it is so “cruel, degrading, or disproportionate to the offense that [it] shocks the moral sense of the community.” People v. Ligon, 2016 IL 118023 , ¶ 10. 2022A sentence violates the clause when, relevant here, it is so “cruel, degrading, or disproportionate to the offense” that it “shocks the moral sense of the community.” People v. Ligon, 2016 IL 118023, ¶ 10 . | 2 | 2022–2023 |
Miller v. Alabama
green
1 sentence2026Subsequent to the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. at 469 , which held that the eighth amendment prohibits the sentencing of juvenile offenders to mandatory life without parole, our courts have expanded similar protections to defendants who receive de facto life sentences of more than 40 years (People v. Buffer, 2019 IL 122327, ¶ 40 ), and have recently raised the possibility that young or “emerging” adult offenders may bring as-applied proportionate penalties clause claims relying on the same developmental science that undergirds Miller (People v. Clark, 202 | 1 | 2026–2026 |
People v. Clark
green
1 sentence2026Subsequent to the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. at 469 , which held that the eighth amendment prohibits the sentencing of juvenile offenders to mandatory life without parole, our courts have expanded similar protections to defendants who receive de facto life sentences of more than 40 years (People v. Buffer, 2019 IL 122327, ¶ 40 ), and have recently raised the possibility that young or “emerging” adult offenders may bring as-applied proportionate penalties clause claims relying on the same developmental science that undergirds Miller (People v. Clark, 202 | 1 | 2026–2026 |
People v. Williams
green
1 sentence2026People v. Williams, 2025 IL 129718, ¶ 43 . | 1 | 2026–2026 |
People v. Gray
green
2 sentences2021“An as-applied challenge requires a showing that the statute violates the constitution as it applies to the facts and circumstances of the challenging party.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) People v. Gray, 2017 IL 120958, ¶ 58 , 91 N.E.3d 876 . 2021“An as-applied challenge requires a showing that the statute violates the constitution as it applies to the facts and circumstances of the challenging party.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) People v. Gray, 2017 IL 120958, ¶ 58 , 91 N.E.3d 876 . | 1 | 2021–2021 |
Counted by distinct opinions that both name this issue and are annotated to the section; sections every opinion cites regardless of issue are not filtered here, so read the counts against the total above.
Opinions by the citing court's state. A doctrine retained in one state and abandoned in another shows up here as a year span that stalls.