No. 20-8124

Lance Mitchell Owens v. Dexter Payne, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction

Lower Court: Arkansas
Docketed: 2021-05-25
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: civil-rights criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection fourteenth-amendment plea-agreement plea-agreements sentencing sentencing-procedure statutory-interpretation
Latest Conference: 2021-09-27
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. Are courts violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution by excluding defendants who enter plea agreements from mandatory procedures for sentencing defendants in plea agreement cases?

2. Does the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provide defendants who enter plea agreements the right to be sentenced in accordance with sentencing statutes that expressly mandate procedures for sentencing defendants in plea agreement cases?

3. Can the statutory procedures that govern plea agreements be waived by plea agreement?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Are courts violating the Equal Protection Clause by excluding defendants in plea agreements from mandatory sentencing procedures?

Docket Entries

2021-10-04
Petition DENIED.
2021-07-01
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/27/2021.
2021-06-24
Waiver of right of respondent Payne, Dir., AR DOC to respond filed.
2021-05-18
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due June 24, 2021)

Attorneys

Lance M. Owens
Lance Mitchell Owens — Petitioner
Payne, Dir., AR DOC
Michael Anthony CantrellOffice of the Arkansas Attorney General, Respondent