Court looks at juveniles sentenced to life

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court may be ready to rule that sentencing someone to life for non-lethal crimes committed as a juvenile is unconstitutional, an analysis says.

The high court heard argument Monday in two Florida cases in which juveniles were sentenced to life without parole for crimes other than murder.

The Los Angeles Times reported a lawyer for a Jacksonville, Fla., man -- who was sentenced to life for a violent parole violation when he was 17 -- argued such a sentence "rejects any hope."

"It means you will stay in your cell and die there," attorney Bryan Gowdy added. Adolescents should not be treated the same as hardened adults.

Chief Justice John Roberts told Gowdy he could agree that minors should be handled on a "case by case approach," but other justices appeared to agree that such sentences are unconstitutional, the Times reported.

Bryan Stevenson, the lawyer for a violent 13-year-old sentenced to life without parole for the rape and injury of an elderly woman, said the average sentence for rape in Florida was 10 years in prison, while his client has already served 20 years for his rape.

The Times said only Justice Antonin Scalia appeared to defend Florida's sentencing policy, saying the constitutional ban on "cruel and unusual" punishment does not give courts the power to second-guess prison terms set by law.

Studies say 109 U.S. prisoners are serving life terms for non-lethal crimes committed as a juvenile -- 77 of them in Florida.

A ruling should come before the court recesses for the summer in late June.