Thorough review of sentences needed

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By The Register’s Editorial

“Elected officials have been “getting tough on crime” for decades. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court told them they had gotten too tough on some juvenile offenders. In Graham vs. Florida, the court ruled it was unconstitutional to impose life sentences without parole for offenders who committed crimes other than murder when they were juveniles. But Iowa had been doing exactly that for years. State law requires life sentences without parole for juveniles convicted of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault.”

Read more at The Des Moines Register…

US judge expects decision in 2-3 weeks on Mich. law barring parole for some juvenile offenders

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By Corey Williams

“A federal judge said Thursday he expected to rule in two to three weeks on the American Civil Liberties Union’s challenge to a Michigan law that bars parole for juveniles convicted of certain murders.”…

Read more at The Republic…

Should juveniles be able to receive parole, or should they serve a life sentence if convicted?

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By Dave Kinchen

“Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office is not commenting on the lawsuit against several state officials, including Gov. Rick Snyder, protesting the state’s ban on parole eligibility for inmates serving life sentences following convictions received when they were minors”…

Read more at ConnectMidMichigan.com…

Is sending juveniles to prison for life constitutional? Judge hears arguments

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By L.L. Brasier

“A federal judge could decide within weeks whether Michigan’s practice of sending juveniles to life in prison without parole is unconstitutional.  Judge John Corbett O’Meara heard arguments this afternoon that the state’s long practice of sentencing kids as young as 14 to life in prison should be considered “cruel and unusual punishment.”…

Read more at Detroit Free Press…

ACLU: Saginaw man, sentenced to life as teen for brutal murder, should have chance for parole

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By Andy Hoag

“Nearly 30 years after 16-year-old Henry Hill Jr. participated in the brutal murder of Anthony Thomas, the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that he should have a chance to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison.”…

Read more at mlive.com…

Juvenile Killers in Jail for Life Seek a Reprieve

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By Adam and Lisa Liptak

“More than a decade ago, a 14-year-old boy killed his stepbrother in a scuffle that escalated from goofing around with a blowgun to an angry threat with a bow and arrow to the fatal thrust of a hunting knife.  The boy, Quantel Lotts, had spent part of the morning playing with Pokémon cards. He was in seventh grade and not yet five feet tall.”

Read more at the New York Times…

 

Suspects in ’69 Lowell killing led ordinary lives

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By Travis Andersen and Michele Richinick

“A 60-year-old man charged with murder Friday in a brutal unsolved Lowell slaying dating back to 1969 still lives in his childhood home in Tewksbury, just a couple of miles from the parents of the 15-year-old boy he is accused of killing.  Another suspect — who was 16 at the time of the killing and will be charged in juvenile court —  owns  lakefront property in Salem, N.H.”…

Read more at boston.com…

Prison reform advocates press states to shift money out of corrections system

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By Krissah Thompson

“Several liberal and conservative groups have joined together to take advantage of the moment. A coalition that includes the evangelical Prison Fellowship Ministries, the NAACP, the American Conservative Union and the American Civil Liberties Union is working to push changes that they hope will lower the U.S. prison population”…

Read more at The Washington Post

Fixing the Mistake With Young Offenders

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Editorial

“There is new evidence that state governments are finally understanding what a tragic mistake they made during the 1990s when they began trying ever larger numbers of children as adults instead of sending them to the juvenile justice system”…

Read more at The New York Times…