Whether sentencing a young adult to life without parole violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment when the offender's brain development is akin to that of a juvenile

: 1. Whether sentencing RonAllen Hardy to life without parole, despite his being 18 years and 5 months old at the time of the offense and developmentally akin to a juvenile, violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. 2. Whether the principles from Miller v. Alabama, Montgomery v. Louisiana, Graham v. Florida, Roper v. Simmons and State v. Booker should apply to young adults like Hardy, whose brain development remains incomplete at the time of the crime. 3. Whether the Tennessee Court of Appeals erred in distinguishing Hardy's case from State v. Booker, and in failing to extend juvenile sentencing protections to young adults whose cognitive and emotional development is similar to that of juveniles. 2