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Where court is unsure, mandatory life is unconstitutional
For juvenile murderers, being sentenced to spend their natural lives in prison is a judgment reserved for those whom the court has explicitly found can never be rehabilitated—the “irreparably corrupt” and “permanently incorrigible.” So where a Mecklenburg County trial court found “no certain prognosis” for a defendant who was 17 when he killed two […]
High court: No presumption of life without parole
In a 5-2 decision, the state Supreme Court on May 11 held that the statute prescribing the sentencing of juveniles convicted of first-degree murder does not presume that the sentence should be life without the possibility of parole. North Carolina amended its sentencing laws in 2012 to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in […]
Justices to decide on sentences for young prison ‘lifers’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sheriff’s Deputy Charles Hurt was on truant patrol when he came across a teenager in a Baton Rouge park on a cool fall morning. The teenager pulled a gun from his jacket, panicked, he said, and shot Hurt dead. That tragic sequence took place more than a half-century ago, nine days before […]
Criminal Practice – Piracy Life Sentence Is Constitutional
U.S. v. Said (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-150-15, 42 pp.) (King, J.) No. 14-4413(L), Aug. 13, 2015; USDC at Norfolk, Va. (Jackson, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: The 4th Circuit upholds the Somali defendants’ convictions of piracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1651 but disagrees with the district court’s ruling that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and […]
APNewsBreak: Life sentence urged in peanut salmonella case
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Federal court officers have recommended a sentence of life in prison for a peanut company executive convicted of selling salmonella-tainted food, a move that attorneys on both sides called “unprecedented” for a food-poisoning case. The potential life sentence for former Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell was disclosed by prosecutors […]
After conviction, many court cases left for Aaron Hernandez
FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — Even after he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole, former New England Patriots star tight end Aaron Hernandez is nowhere near done with his legal troubles. He still faces double murder charges in Boston, as well as civil lawsuits over the killings and […]
Prisons & Jails — Prisoner Credits – Life Sentence – No Release Date
State v. Bowden (Lawyers Weekly No. 14-06-1204, 21 pp.) (Paul Newby, J.) (Robin Hudson, J., joined by Cheri Beasley, J., dissenting) (Robert Hunter, J., not participating) Appealed from Cumberland County Superior Court (Gregory Weeks, J.) On writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeals. N.C. S. Ct. Holding: This case is indistinguishable from Jones v. […]
Criminal Practice — Drug Dealer’s Life Sentence ‘Unreasonable’
U.S. v. Howard (Lawyers Weekly No. 14-01-1150, 38 pp.) (Davis, J.) No. 13-4296, Dec. 4, 2014; USDC at Raleigh, N.C. (Dever, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: The 4th Circuit vacates a life sentence as “substantively unreasonable” and orders resentencing for a defendant with a history of selling PCP who was convicted of conspiracy, a weapons charge […]
Man sentenced in special deputy US marshal’s death
Authorities say a Kinston man was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder in the death of a special deputy U.S. marshal.
Dog owner faces 15 to life in pit bull mauling
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A pit bull owner whose dogs fatally mauled a woman walking near his house faces the unusual prospect of spending up to life behind bars. Alex Donald Jackson, 31, faces a sentence of 15 years to life Friday after he was convicted of second-degree murder last month in the death of […]
NC woman gets life in slaying of great aunt
JACKSONVILLE (AP) — A 32-year-old Newport woman has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in the slaying of her great aunt nearly two years ago. Rhonda Hagan was sentenced to life without parole Tuesday in the death of 90-year-old Goldie Hall. Authorities say the victim’s body […]
Pa. inmate convicted as teen given life term again
EASTON, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania inmate who was a 14-year-old gang member when he fatally shot another teenager has lost his bid for a sentence reduction. Twenty-two-year-old Qu’eed (kwah-EED’) Batts was sentenced Friday morning to life in prison without parole. The state Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing hearing for Batts following a 2012 […]
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Commentary
- Amotion sees resurgence after almost a decade
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
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- Ex-president, bar association have made their choice
- Ruling sharpens boundaries in attorney-client privilege
- Lawyers Weekly debuts new and improved web experience
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
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- A Different Ode to Pro Bono Work
- A roadmap to attracting, developing, retaining great associates
