Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Sentencing Law and Policy

Criminal Law

: Sentencing Law and Policy

Still more concerns about juve LWOP

By Douglas A. Berman

One of the most clear impacts of the Supreme Court's decision to make juveniles ineligible for the death penalty has been greater public policy and public attention given to juveniles sentenced to very long prison terms.  The latest example of this attention comes in the form of this new Washington Post article, headlined "Illinois Weighs Second Chances: Some See Juvenile Sentencing Laws As Overly Harsh."  Here is a snippet:Illinois's mandatory life sentence law, with its tough provision for people whose role in a crime may have been small, was passed in the late 1970s at a time of concern over rising youth crime rates. Now, however, it is now being challenged. A coalition of human rights groups, defense lawyers and lawmakers is backing legislation to do away with mandatory life sentences for juveniles and to reconsider the cases of those who were sentenced as juveniles and are serving now...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 03, 2008 (boomark / email).