7th Circuit hears oral arguments in Madison

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The Chicago-based 7^th Circuit came to Madison on Monday in an appearance that was peppered by spirited exchanges between Judge Diane Sykes and the counsel in one of the three cases they heard that day.

The exchanges occurred during oral arguments in the case of Martinez and Vallejo v. United States. The dispute has put before the court the question of whether life sentences violate the Eighth Amendment and whether the defendants’ sentencing hearings were properly individualized as discussed in the court’s decision in Miller v. Alabama.

Martinez was the last of the cases the three judge panel heard Monday. The panel consisted of Judge Joel Flaum, Judge Michael Kanne and Sykes. Amelia Bizarro argued for the appellants, and Matt Krueger argued for the federal government.

Sykes interrupted Bizzaro several times to, as she put it, correct her reading of a statute and her understanding of how courts should examine a statute to ascertain lawmakers’ intent.

Sykes said that both the state and the appellants were asking them to create a split in the circuits and asked Krueger whether that was his understanding. Krueger, like the counsel for appellants Vallejo and Martinez, noted that the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to decide a similar case in October.

Judge Joe Flaum noted that the court usually waits for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide a case that deals with similar matters before ruling on the case before it.

“Why wait?” asked Krueger. “You know better than they do.” Follow @erikastrebel