Is Sentencing a Juvenile to Life in Prison Cruel and Unusual Punishment?: Washington Post writer Robert Barnes reports that the US Supreme Court will hear arguments today on whether sentencing a juvenile to life in prison without parole is a violation of the Eighth Amendments ban on cruel and unusual punishment.  USA Today writer Joan Biskupic also reports on the cases.  The two cases that are at the center of the controversy are Graham v Florida and Sullivan v Florida.  In 2003, Terrance Graham was sentenced for armed robbery for attempting to rob a restaurant.  In 2005, Graham took part in a home invasion.  At that time, he was on probation for the 2003 robbery conviction.  Graham, a few days short of his 18th birthday, was sentenced to life imprison without parole.  The other petitioner, Joe Sullivan was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 1989 rape of an elderly woman.  Today there are an estimated 111 defendants nationwide serving a life sentence for a crime other than murder that they committed when under 18. In support of Florida, the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation has submitted a friend of the court brief, found here.  Our Legal Director, Kent Scheidegger, also recently took part in this New York Times debate.  This is not the first time that the US Supreme Court has heard arguments on sentencing juveniles.  In 2005, the Court was asked to decide whether a state could sentence juvenile murderers to death.  The Court ruled that a state cannot execute any murderer under the age of 18.  Some hope that the Court will use the same reasoning to determine whether juveniles should be sentenced to life without parole for committing a crime other than murder.  Those supporting Florida say that this penalty is reserved for the worst offenders and is used to make the community safer.    

Evaluation of Kentucky's Death Penalty:  Louisville Courier- Journal writer R.G. Dunlop reports that many believe Kentucky's death penalty system is ineffective.  Since Kentucky reinstated its death penalty in 1976, 92 defendants have been sentenced to death, but only three have been executed.  More than one-third of the state's 36 current death row inmates have been there at least two decades.  This has caused critics to question whether Kentucky's death penalty system is worth it.  David Sexton, former prosecutor for the state Attorney General believes, it is inappropriate to apply a cost-benefit analysis to crimes that may be "too reprehensible ... to reduce the equation to some sort of business decision."  The cost of the death penalty is also an issue in California.  According to a study released by the anti-DP Death Penalty Information Center, California is spending $137 million per year in capital cases and has not carried out an execution since January 2006.   But the death penalty can save the states the cost of a trial as a negotiation tool.  Sacramento Bee writer Julie Johnson reported that the I-5 strangler, Roger Reece Kibbe, pleaded guilty to killing Lou Ellen Burleigh in 1977, and Lora Heedrick, Barbara Ann Scott, Stephanie Brown, Charmaine Sabrah and Katherine Kelly Quinones, in 1986, to elude the death penalty.  While some states are evaluating the effectiveness of their death penalty, Kentucky last addressed the issue in 2002.  Governor Steve Beshear said that he supports the death penalty "for violent and heinous crimes, and that public safety should not be sacrificed because of economic or budgetary concerns."