Juvenile lifer who set precedent sentenced to life again

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://apnews.com/article/sentencing-3fbed43a2b6aeff1cd49ce675c83a116

MOULTON, Ala. (AP) — Evan Miller was just 14 when he committed the slaying that sent him to prison.

In reviewing his case, the U.S. Supreme Court banned mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles — saying judges and juries should consider the special factors of youth — a decision that eventually led to inmates across the country getting a chance at release.

But Miller will not get that chance. A judge on Tuesday handed down a second life sentence without possibility of parole.

Lawrence Circuit Judge Mark Craig ruled that Evan Miller, despite being a young teen when he committed his crime, met the legal criteria to be sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole. Craig said the severity of Miller’s crime outweighed the mitigating factors of Miller’s age and his abuse-filled childhood that the defense argued made him deserving of an opportunity of a chance to get out of prison some day.

[Journeyman]

1. The woman who raised me was murdered by a 14-year-old . . .

dragged from her car at an intersection, pistol whipped, then shot twice through the left eye. The assailant got away with 58 cents, half a pack of smokes, and the life of a young girl's mother. Quickly captured, he and his 16-year-old accomplice were sentenced to far too few years. Both were out by their 18th birthdays.

I think of Lucille, and these little criminals, often. I hope her terror was dulled by shock. And I hope both criminals went on to lead productive, fulfilled lives. But I don't imagine they did. I suspect they continued as they had chosen and their end would be something on the order of her's.

Vicious cycles in which we must all revolve. Senseless opportunities to which too many are condemned.

Somehow, we need to find a middle ground, a place where justice and mercy can coexist.

[TexasBushwhacker]

2. Well, his friend who helped Miller kill their victim

plead guilty to murder in exchange for a life sentence with the possibility of parole.