• By
  • Ashby Jones

juvenileEarly last year, in a case called Graham v. Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that life sentences for juveniles for any crime other than murder was unconstitutional.

Given that, you might imagine that Florida courts have been busy the last six months overturning life sentences for juveniles convicted of other crimes.

But a story in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Tuesday reveals that this is not exactly the case. According to the story, “more than six months after the U.S. Supreme Court [ruling] . . . not a single former juvenile sentenced in such cases has found much relief.”

Instead, continues reporter Lloyd Dunkelberger, “Florida courts, in several high-profile cases are re-sentencing the juveniles to new terms that still amount to life sentences.”

At the time of the Graham case, researchers estimated 77 Florida youths were serving life without parole sentences for non-murder crimes like robbery, carjacking and rape. But a recent state appellate court ruling expanded the definition of non-murder crimes to attempted murder cases. Legal experts, according to the story, now put the number at 116 prisoners.

Juvenile lifers aren’t having a lot of success finding relief from their unconstitutional sentences.

A handful have returned to the trial courts – only to receive what their lawyers call excessively long new sentences that violate the Graham ruling and effectively mean the juveniles will still spend their lives in prison.

Some examples alluded to in the story:

• In Hillsborough County, a defendant, who was 13 at the time he was involved in a series of robberies and rapes, received a new 65-year sentence that will have to be served after another 27-year sentence for a separate crime.

• In Jacksonville, a youth received a new 50-year sentence for his part in an armed robbery and shooting that left a victim paralyzed.

• In Orlando, a prisoner – who was 17 at the time he raped and robbed a woman – represented himself in court and received 90 years in consecutive sentences.