Fernando Juarez v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division

In the context of 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d), which allows an application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody under a state-court judgment to be granted with respect to a claim that was adjudicated on the merits in state-court only if the adjudication of the claim was: (i) contrary to or involved an unreasonable application of clearly established Federal law as determined by this Court; or (ii) based on an unreasonable determination of the facts considering the evidence presented in state court, Petitioner presents these questions:

1. Does an automatic sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole for 40 years violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments under Miller v. Alabama because it is a de facto life-withoutparole sentence?

2. Does a sentencing-law enacted after the date of an offense that inflicts a greater punishment than what was constitutionally available on the date of the offense violate the Ex Post Facto Clause of U.S. Const. Art. I, § 10?