Observers hoping the U.S. Supreme Court would seize on an opportunity to address the issue of mandatory drug sentences were disappointed when the high court declined to review the case of a Utah man sentenced to 55 years in prison for selling marijuana.

The Deseret Morning News reported Dec. 5 that the court let the sentence stand, leaving Weldon Angelos in prison. Angelos received the harsh sentence because an informant said he had a gun in his possession when Angelos sold him eight ounces of marijuana.

"We are extremely disappointed that the Supreme Court did not agree to hear the case," said University of Utah law professor Erik Luna. "This case presented a great opportunity for the Supreme Court not only to correct this miscarriage of justice but also to clarify the scope of the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment."

Angelos' supporters included a group of 141 former justice officials, including four former U.S. attorneys general, a former FBI director, and former judges and prosecutors, who filed briefs in support of the Salt Lake City man. "Even the judge who imposed the sentence found that it was 'cruel, unjust and irrational,'" said Jeff Sklaroff, an attorney who led the group of justice officials.

Critics of the mandatory sentencing laws expressed hope that Congress would address the issue. But Brett Tolman, U.S. Attorney for Utah, said he was "pleased that the Supreme Court denied the petition. Congress has determined that armed drug trafficking is a particularly serious offense that warrants severe punishment."