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Life Without Parole for Juveniles in Texas

In a move that surprised no one, the Texas Court if Criminal Appeals upheld the life without parole sentence for a juvenile convicted of murdering to San Antonio friends in 2006. The vote was split 7-2 , which in itself is at least a glimmer of hope, and was made despite the fact that Texas no longer allows the sentencing of juveniles to life without parole. As usual, the Court of Criminal Appeals held to its belief there are only two types of error in criminal convictions, harmless and none,Read More


U.S. Supreme Court Bans Life Without Parole for Juveniles

For once, Texas was ahead of the trends in the criminal justice system since last session Governor Perry signed SB 839, a bill authored by Senator Juan Hinojosa, which allowed juveniles to be considered for parole after 40 years. Not a huge difference from life in prison, but at least something. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 split vote, held that the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment did not allow a sentence of life without parole for juveniles. Although in this case the juvenile was sentencedRead More