State urges court to affirm: charging juveniles with felony murder stays within constitutional bounds

Andrew Yee, representing the respondent State of Washington, asked the court to affirm the trial court's judgment, asserting that the Eighth Amendment and the state constitution limit sentencing practices but do not preclude the legislature from defining offenses. "The Eighth Amendment does not limit the government's power to prescribe behavior and conduct, such as felony murder," Yee told the court.

Yee relied on Bassett (as discussed in the argument) to frame the categorical analysis as primarily focused on sentencing practice and the presence or absence of an emerging national consensus against the sentencing practice at issue. He told the court Washington provides sentencing judges broad discretion to depart below the standard range for juvenile offenders and noted that Hawthorne's sentence was mitigated because of his youth.

Yee also noted that while a few states have abolished felony murder across the board (statutorily or judicially), no state has abolished felony murder specifically as applied to juveniles; he argued precedent and statutory structure weigh against categorically barring juvenile charges under felony murder.