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Another Call for Juvenile Sentencing Reform

By Steve Hall

Toaday's Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania carries the editorial, "Chance for change: Life sentence removes hope for juvenile reform."The question before the U.S. Supreme Court is: Do we believe juveniles sentenced to life in prison can reform? Last week, the justices faced this question in a case involving two men serving life sentences for serious crimes they committed as teenagers. Attorneys for the two Florida prisoners argue that not giving adolescents hope for parole violates the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution and its prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. As it is, the United States is the only nation that sentences teenagers who are convicted of a nonhomicide crime to life in prison with no chance of parole...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on November 20, 2009 (boomark / email).