IA High Court Bans LWOP for Teen Killers:  In a 4-3 ruling Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court banned judges from sentencing juveniles convicted of first-degree murder to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  Ryan J. Foley of the AP reports that justices ruled in the case of Isaiah Sweet, who was age 17 in 2012 when he committed the premeditated murders of his grandparents, determining that juveniles should have the option to someday prove to the parole board they have been rehabilitated given that their brains are still developing.  The dissenting justice, Edward Mansfield, criticized the ruling, calling it wrong to strike down a sentencing option that state lawmakers overwhelmingly reauthorized last year.  However, the ruling doesn't guarantee parole for juveniles offenders but, rather, contends that parole officials and not sentencing judges should make the determination.  Iowa is the 19th state to ban life without parole sentences for juveniles either through legislation or courts, while the Iowa high court is the second state court to outlaw such sentences based on the state constitution.

Kate Steinle's Family files a Lawsuit over her Death:  The family of Kate Steinle, the woman fatally shot on a San Francisco pier last July by an illegal immigrant, filed a lawsuit Friday over her death.  Fox News reports that the lawsuit argues that the city's sanctuary city law that protects illegal immigrants from deportation was responsible for the release of repeat drug offender and habitual border crosser Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, who was released from custody despite a request from federal immigration authorities that local officials keep him in custody for possible deportation.  Even in the face of national outrage, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors upheld the city's sanctuary city protections on Tuesday for illegal immigrants.  Ross Mirkarimi, the sheriff at the time of Steinle's killing, ICE and the Bureau of Land Management were named in the lawsuit.

CA Laws Give Young Offenders 2nd Chance, Concerns Victims:  New laws in California have qualified over 14,000 inmates convicted of serious crimes as juveniles and sentenced as adults for early parole hearing, troubling victims.  Nicole Comstock of Fox 40 reports that SB 261, which went into effect in January 2016, raised the age of eligibility for parole hearings, coming two years after a law implemented in 2014 allowing youth offenders who committed crimes prior to the age of 18 -- many of whom were sentenced to life -- to have a parole hearing after serving between just 15 and 25 years.  San Benito County District Attorney Candice Hooper, who recently fought to keep a convicted serial rapist and murderer behind bars after he was granted a parole hearing last month, criticizes the new laws for benefiting prisoners at the expense of their victims.  According to the CDCR, 347 youth offenders who became eligible for parole hearings as a result of the law have been granted parole.