Recent Updates
April 28, 2010
State Must Prove Defendant's Knowledge of Driver's License Suspension
April 13, 2010
Sentencing Commission Votes to Eliminate Recent Criminal History Points
October 15, 2009
Consent to search inside of vehicle does not extend to locked containers
October 14, 2009
Making phone calls to get drugs for personal use not a felony
October 07, 2009
Duval County schools agree to reduce number of students getting arrested
Life Sentence in Felony Murders for Juveniles Making Way Through the House
August 05, 2009
Topic: Criminal
On May 6, 2009, a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives that will affect all juveniles who have been sentenced to life in prison. The bill, HR 2289 - The Juvenile Justice Accountability and Improvement Act of 2009, was introduced by by Bobby Scott (D-VA) and John Conyers (D- MI).
A public hearing on this bill was held on June 9 but it has not yet made it out of committe.
If this bill passes, every child offender that has been given life or life without parole in the country would come up for parole after serving 15 years and then subsequently every 3 years after that.
The sentencing of juveniles to life sentences if problematic. They are not yet adults yet they have been sentenced to spending the rest of their lives in jail. It will be interesting to see how the public debate comes out. This bill seems to balance the interest in punishment as well as the chance to become a productive citizen. A 15 year minimum sentence is a long sentence for someone not yet an adult.
