Supreme Court will hear cases on LWOP for juveniles!

[saraltx1]

This is terriffic news! In Fall, the Supreme Court will hear two cases to decide on the future of life without parole for juveniles! Here is the news:



By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer Jesse J. Holland, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 25 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Though it may be decades, Joe Harris Sullivan is waiting to die in prison for a crime he committed at age 13, one of thousands of children who have been sentenced to life terms without parole in the United States.

The Supreme Court on Monday announced that it will decide whether sentencing juveniles to spend the rest of their lives in prison without hope of ever being released can be considered a cruel and unusual punishment.

The justices are taking up two cases from Florida challenging life sentences for teenagers. In the first case, a judge determined that 17-year-old Terrance Graham took part in an armed home-invasion robbery while he was on probation for a violent crime.
Sullivan, now 33 and in prison at the Santa Rosa Correctional Institution in Milton, Fla., was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for the rape of Lena Bruner in 1989. Bruner never saw her attacker, but she testified at trial that Sullivan's voice sounded like that of her attacker. Two boys also testified against Sullivan, a police officer said she saw Sullivan run from Bruner's house, and his handprint was found on a plaque on Bruner's bed.

For entire story, please follow the link below:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...zAcbAD97VNMB80

[outinaussie]

sounds like alot of states up there are looking at changing this law of sentencing juveniles to life w/o p
the U.S is one of ( if not the only place still) that sentences these children to die in prison..

this is good news.. hopefully they will have a positive outcome.

[StormChild]

Thanks for this, Sara -- I'll certainly watch out for news of these cases in the fall.

[mobstawife]

Go to fairsentencingforyouth.org