Debate Over Parole for Teens Revived:  The conviction of a Massachusetts teen for the brutal rape and murder of his high school math teacher has revived a debate over parole for teen killers and the urging of lawmakers to toughen prison sentences.  Christian M. Wade of the Gloucester Times reports that 16-year-old Phillip Chism was 14 in 2013 when he followed his 24-year-old algebra teacher, Colleen Ritzer, into a school bathroom, strangled her, stabbed her at least 16 times with a  box cutter, raped her and then dumped her body in the woods near the school.  He was found guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday after being tried as an adult, but will still be eligible for parole in 13 to 23 years due to his juvenile status.  In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down mandatory life sentences for juveniles convicted of first-degree murder as a violation of the Eighth Amendment.  A year later the Massachusetts high court followed with a similar ruling, announcing that sentences of life without parole for juveniles "fail to account for a young defendant's likelihood of rehabilitation."  In 2014, new state guidelines were set by legislation requiring juveniles convicted of first-degree murder to serve 20 to 30 years before becoming eligible for parole, but this changed after Chism murdered Ritzer, and he will be sentenced in January under the guidelines outlined by the state's high court.  "The reality that families like mine and the Ritzers might have to face parole hearings is devastating," says Sean Aylward, whose 16-year-old sister was beaten to death in 1992.

Manhunt Underway for 'Affluenza' Teen:  After failing to show up for an appointment with his probation officer on Tuesday and disappearing from the home he shared with his mother, a manhunt is underway for the rich Texas teenager described as having "affluenza" while on trial for killing four people in a drunk-driving crash in 2013.  Elizabeth Chuck of NBC News reports that Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson says he "wasn't surprised at all" to learn that 18-year-old Ethan Couch ran, adding that he has a "gut feeling" that the teen and his wealthy mother Tanya, also missing, have "gone a long way," and expect the search to take a long time.  In June 2013, at the age of 16, Couch drunkenly plowed his truck into four people on a Texas road, killing them and injuring several others.  At his trial, a psychologist testified on Couch's behalf, saying that the spoiled teen was afflicted with "affluenza," which rendered his ability to distinguish right from wrong due to his privileged upbringing and parental coddling.  Couch received 10 years of probation and order to attend rehab, but no jail time.  U.S. Marshals and the FBI continue to search for Couch and his mother.

Spending Bill Funds Sanctuary Cities:  On Wednesday, in a speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-AL, expressed outrage over the omnibus spending bill recently introduced by Congress, criticizing it as an abuse of executive power that "will fund the president's entire lawless immigration agenda."  Jenna Lifhits of the Washington Free Beacon reports that Sessions condemned the bill for advancing an array of items on Obama's agenda, such as allowing the president to let any number of refugees into the country as he wants; the issuance of at least 170,000 green cards to migrants from Muslim countries over the next year; the funding of sanctuary cities, which provides shelter for illegal aliens; and the quadrupling of the number of foreign workers accepted as part of the controversial H-2B foreign worker visa program, from 66,000 to 254,000.    The bill will also provide more than $1.6 billion to resettle illegal immigrants arriving at the U.S. border through 2018.