ATLANTA : Appeals court allows life sentences for juveniles

Appeals court allows life sentences for juveniles

ATLANTA -- A federal appeals court on Wednesday held that juveniles convicted of murder can be sentenced
to life in prison without parole, seeking to settle a lingering debate over how the courts punish minors
who commit serious offenses.

The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that juveniles cannot be sentenced to death and that the
y also can't be sentenced to life in prison without parole for rape and other non-homicide offenses
. The ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday, though, upheld life sentences for juveniles
convicted of murder.

The decision came in the case against Kenneth Loggins, who was convicted in Alabama of killing
a hitchhiker in 1994 and originally sentenced to die. He was 17 at the time of the killing, so his
punishment was reduced to life without parole because the Supreme Court banned such executions in 2005.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/07/2395169/appeals-court-allows-life-sentences.html