U.S. Supreme Court deliberates over juvenile life sentences

2009-11-11 02:56:06 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Law, News)

The U.S. Supreme Court considers the issue of whether sentencing juveniles to life in prison is unconstitutional for crimes other than murder.

The Court justices heard arguments Monday regarding the issue of sentencing juveniles to life imprisonment.

Washington, D.C. (WiredPRNews.com) – The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday over the sentencing of juveniles to life in prison. As reported by Reuters, justices considered whether such sentencing for crimes other than murder was unconstitutional as proposed by two attorneys whose teenage clients had been sentenced to life without parole.

Chief Justice John Roberts is stated by Reuters as commenting to one of the attorneys that considerations in individual cases as opposed to the adoption of a categorical rule may be more appropriate. Roberts is quoted as stating, “It avoids all of the line-drawing problems we’ve been discussing.”

As noted in the report, approximately 111 defendants in the U.S. were given life sentences with no parole prior to turning 18, with a large majority of the cases occurring in Florida.

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