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Article: U.S Supreme Court may alter juveniles' life sentences
- Article from:
- Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
- Article date:
- May 13, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Civil-rights advocates are cautiously optimistic that the days of
sentencing juveniles to life in prison with no chance of parole
could soon end.
Their hope lies with the U.S. Supreme Court, which said this
month it would review two cases from Florida in which juvenile
offenders claim their life sentences -- one for rape, the other for
robbery -- are unconstitutional.
Legal experts cautioned the court could rule in a number of ways,
and said some outcomes might not change Pennsylvania's sentencing
guidelines.
But they added that if the court rules life sentences for
juveniles are inhumane, the effect on Pennsylvania -- which has
about 450 juvenile lifers, more than any other state -- could ...