JUVENILES SERVING LWOP IN CALIFORNIA

Only 2 in California likely to have sentences reviewed -- Los Angeles Times
California prisons hold 249 inmates sentenced to life without the
possibility of parole for crimes committed when they were juveniles, but
only two are likely to win review of their sentences following a Monday
ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, state prison officials said. Correction
officials said only three juvenile offenders in the state have been sent
away for life without parole for crimes other than murder, and one was
resentenced last year when a state appeals court came to the same conclusion
as the high court that the sentence for a youth offender constitutes cruel
and unusual punishment. A search of the California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation records turned up only two prisoners serving life without
the possibility of parole, or LWOPPs in the prison vernacular, for
kidnapping for ransom, one of the few state offenses a along with attempted
murder of a police officer a that can land a juvenile behind bars for life.