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Great News, But....

By Michael Blankenship

The Supreme Court has ruled that teenagers may not be locked up for life without chance of parole if they haven't killed anyone. By a 5-4 vote Monday, the court says the Constitution requires that young people serving life sentences must at least be considered for release. The court ruled in the case of Terrance Graham, who was implicated in armed robberies when he was 16 and 17. Graham, now 22, is in prison in Florida, which holds more than 70 percent of juvenile defendants locked up for life for crimes other than homicide. Read more... This is good news in the effort to roll back draconian punishments. The bad news is that it was a split decision (5-4) and Justice Thomas proclaims his usual naivete about how state legislatures (especially in Idaho) pass sentencing legislation...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Justice Gambit on May 17, 2010 (boomark / email).