Post by Logan on Jan 25, 2016 14:14:44 GMT -6
Supreme Court extends ban on automatic life terms for teen killers
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that people serving life terms for murders they committed as teenagers must have a chance to seek their freedom.
The justices voted 6-3 to extend a ruling from 2012 that struck down automatic life terms with no chance of parole for teenage killers. Now, even those who were convicted long ago must be considered for parole or given a new sentence.
The court ruled in the case of Henry Montgomery, who has been in prison more than 50 years, since he killed a sheriff’s deputy as a 17-year-old in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1963.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing the majority opinion, said that "prisoners like Montgomery must be given the opportunity to show their crime did not reflect irreparable corruption; and if it did not, their hope for some years of life outside prison walls must be restored."
Continued at www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2016/01/25/justices-extend-bar-automatic-life-terms-for-teenagers/8SCaRWKBH0c72vJnf1P1oK/story.html
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that people serving life terms for murders they committed as teenagers must have a chance to seek their freedom.
The justices voted 6-3 to extend a ruling from 2012 that struck down automatic life terms with no chance of parole for teenage killers. Now, even those who were convicted long ago must be considered for parole or given a new sentence.
The court ruled in the case of Henry Montgomery, who has been in prison more than 50 years, since he killed a sheriff’s deputy as a 17-year-old in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1963.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing the majority opinion, said that "prisoners like Montgomery must be given the opportunity to show their crime did not reflect irreparable corruption; and if it did not, their hope for some years of life outside prison walls must be restored."
Continued at www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2016/01/25/justices-extend-bar-automatic-life-terms-for-teenagers/8SCaRWKBH0c72vJnf1P1oK/story.html