NC House to take up law for minors who murder

By Allen Reed

Associated Press

Published: Monday, July 2 2012 8:58 a.m. MDT

Summary

The North Carolina House Judiciary Committee has approved a bill to get the state into compliance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding sentencing for minors convicted of murder.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina House Judiciary Committee has approved a bill to get the state into compliance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding sentencing for minors convicted of murder.

Committee Chairman Republican Rep. Sarah Stevens says the bill will advance to the House floor Monday, with a Senate voted expected Tuesday.

The high court ruled that states cannot automatically give sentences of life without parole to minors. North Carolina is one of the nearly 30 states where life without parole is the only option for certain types of murder.

The ruling allows 88 convicts in North Carolina to appeal their sentences.

The new minimum sentence would be 25 years before a chance at parole. The bill was amended Monday to lessen convictions for non-premeditated murders.

Comments