AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals says sentencing juvenile murderers to life with no parole doesn't violate a defendant's Constitutional rights.
In a 7-2 ruling, the court said some actions justify imposing the second-harshest penalty available in Texas, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
The court made its ruling in the case of Chris Joshua Meadoux, convicted of murdering two San Antonio friends when he was 16.
Texas law no longer allows the no-parole sentence for juvenile killers, but the change wasn't made retroactive.
Meadoux argued that his no-parole sentence violated the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment because juveniles lack maturity, judgment and an adult's sense of responsibility.
"Given the enormity of the crimes committed by juvenile capital offenders, the Legislature could reasonably conclude that such offenders are incorrigible, and that the only prudent course of action is to separate them from society forever," said the opinion, written by Judge Charles Holcomb.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Lawrence Meyers said the court should have ordered new punishment hearings for Meadoux and other juvenile offenders jailed before the law was overturned.
"It's ridiculous to say that a juvenile who was not even eligible for the death penalty" should receive a harsher no-parole sentence, Meyers wrote in the dissent, joined by Judge Cheryl Johnson.
In 2005, the Texas Legislature voted to let jurors choose life without parole or execution for capital murder, but it was amended to ban no-parole sentences for those who committed murder while younger than 18.
