State v. Donahue, 434 P.3d 230

In 1973 Donahue, age 16, was convicted of multiple crimes including two counts of aggravated kidnapping (class A felony) and sentenced in 1974 to life imprisonment with parole eligibility after 15 years.
In 2016 Donahue filed a K.S.A. 22-3504(1) motion to correct an illegal sentence, arguing Miller v. Alabama and Montgomery v. Louisiana render his life sentence unconstitutional because he was a juvenile when he committed the offenses.
Donahue acknowledged Miller addressed mandatory life without parole but asked the court to extend Miller’s Eighth Amendment rule to life-with-parole sentences.
The district court summarily denied the motion, holding K.S.A. 22-3504(1) is not the proper vehicle for raising a federal constitutional challenge to a sentence and separately noting Donahue’s sentence allowed parole and he had been paroled several times.
Donahue appealed directly to the Kansas Supreme Court (appropriate because a life sentence was imposed).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a claim that a sentence violates the Eighth Amendment can be raised in a K.S.A. 22-3504(1) motion to correct an illegal sentence	Donahue: Miller/Montgomery make his juvenile life sentence unconstitutional; 22-3504(1) should permit correction	State: 22-3504(1) covers narrowly defined "illegal sentences," not constitutional challenges like Eighth Amendment claims	The court held such constitutional claims cannot be raised under K.S.A. 22-3504(1); Donahue's motion was improper and was denied

State v. Samuel, 309 Kan. 155 (2019) (motions under the illegal-sentence statute cannot assert constitutional challenges to a sentence)
State v. Trotter, 296 Kan. 898 (2013) (judicial definition of "illegal sentence")
State v. Swafford, 306 Kan. 537 (2017) (illegal-sentence relief is narrowly and specifically defined)
Kirtdoll v. State, 306 Kan. 335 (2017) (direct appeal to Supreme Court proper when life sentence imposed)