Texas Governor Rick Perry (pic­tured) has com­mut­ed the death sen­tences of 28 juve­nile offend­ers to life in prison, an act that brings the state into com­pli­ance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court rul­ing that deemed the prac­tice of exe­cut­ing those who were under 18 at the time of their crime uncon­sti­tu­tion­al. While some of these inmates will remain in more restric­tive seg­re­ga­tion, many will have their first expo­sure to prison work pro­grams, school­ing, and jobs with­in a prison unit.

Current Texas sen­tenc­ing laws give jurires in cap­i­tal mur­der cas­es the choice of sen­tenc­ing defen­dants to execu­ton by lethal injec­tion or life in prison with the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole after 40 years. Last week, Perry signed into law a change that will remove the pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole in life sen­tences, but the change will not apply retroac­tive­ly to crimes com­mit­ted before Septemeber 1, 2005. (Associated Press, June 22, 2005) See Juveniles, Life Without Parole, and Clemency. See also DPIC’s Roper v. Simmons Web page.

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