Life without parole sentence unconstitutional for juveniles
GATESVILLE, Texas (KWTX) There are 12 state prison inmates in Texas serving life without parole sentences which the U.S. Supreme Court has said is unconstitutional, but not a single one of them has asked for a new sentence.
One of those inmates is housed at a prison unit in Gatesville.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote a majority opinion by the court that said “under the Eighth Amendment's bar against cruel and unusual punishment, states may no longer sentence juveniles to life without parole.”
“We have 12 in custody now serving life without parole sentences who were younger than 18 when they committed their crimes,” Jason Clark, public information director for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a telephone interview Thursday .
“As far as I know none of them has asked for a new sentence and it’s something they have to do,” Clark said.
As long ago as 2012 the high court ruled that a life without parole sentence handed to a person convicted...