The LA Times has this unsurprising editorial about the California Assembly's recent defeat of SB399, or in their words, the Assembly's refusal "to lead California out of the Dark Ages by banning sentences of life without the possibility of parole for juveniles."  (Read Kent's previous posts about the bill here, here, and here.)  Characterizing the bill as "extremely modest," the article implores Senator Yee to push again for such a law in the future in the hopes that "[a]t some point, the Assembly with find the courage to do the just thing."  The article implies that LWOP for juveniles serves neither of the two functions of incarceration - punishment and protection of the public - based on general studies of juvenile delinquency patterns.  Notably, the article omits the fact, noted in Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully's press release, that LWOP is only available to juvenile offenders ages 16 to 18, convicted of first degree murder with special circumstances - not, as the article seems to suggest, to "children ... capable of reform" who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.