Judge Regrets Sentencing Teen to Life Without Parole

Speaking of harsh penalties, how’s 241 years in prison for a 16-year-old boy?

Well, it happened to this boy twenty years ago. The judge who sentenced him told him he’d die in prison. She told him he wouldn’t even be eligible for parole until 2091, when no one he knew would be alive, anyway.

One can forgive the judge her anger. The boy and an 18-year-old friend had robbed a group of six people and shot at two of them. The older boy led the way, but they both had a gun, and they each fired a shot. They could’ve killed someone, but no one was hurt. Then they carjacked and robbed another woman before letting her go. The 18-year-old pleaded guilty and got 30 years. He’ll be eligible for parole this year. The 16-year-old went to trial and lost. He’d already compiled a juvenile record to that point, and the judge was steamed.

But she deeply regrets her sentence now, and she’s joined the boy’s lawyers in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn it.

Their argument is simple. The Court held in 2010 that it’s unconstitutional to sentence a kid who didn’t kill anyone to life without parole. Simply and logically, the same must go for a sentence that doesn’t say “life without parole” but does the exact same thing.