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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejects attack on juve LWOP for murderer

By Douglas A. Berman

As detailed in this report in the Austin American-Statesman, earlier this week the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that "sentencing juvenile murderers to life in prison without any chance of parole is not unreasonably harsh."  Here are more details (along with links inserted to the opinions ): Chris Joshua Meadoux, convicted of killing two San Antonio friends when he was 16, argued that his no-parole sentence violated the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment because juveniles lack maturity, judgment and an adult's sense of responsibility. But in a 7-2 ruling, the state's highest criminal court said that juveniles may be less morally culpable than adults, but some actions justify imposing the second-harshest penalty available in Texas...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on November 19, 2010 (boomark / email).