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Md. high court orders resentencing of Beltway sniper as juvenile offender
A sharply divided Maryland high court ordered the resentencing of a man serving six life terms for an October 2002 killing spree in Montgomery County at age 17.
Maryland high court weighs DC beltway sniper’s resentencing bid
An attorney for a man serving six life sentences for a DC beltway killing spree at age 17 urged Maryland’s top court Tuesday to order his client resentenced.
Md. high court weighs if judges must list maturity factors in sentencing juveniles
Judges sentencing juveniles convicted of first-degree felony murder must state on the record that they considered the convicts’ youth, lack of maturity, impulsiveness and susceptibility to peer pressure before handing down the punishment, a defense attorney argued to Maryland’s top court Tuesday. Such an express statement from the bench is necessary to help ensure that […]
Judge orders Snow Hill detainees’ release amid COVID-19
A federal judge Thursday ordered the release of two Worcester County Detention Center detainees after discovering a third detainee had exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 virus, information the jurist said was known but not disclosed to the court by either jail personnel or U.S. immigration officials holding the detainees. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang said […]
Hogan issues order on ‘meaningful opportunity’ for juvenile lifers’ release
ANNAPOLIS – Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed an executive order Friday stating he will give juvenile offenders serving life sentences a “meaningful opportunity for release” based on their demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation while in prison – standards set by the U.S. Supreme Court but decried by a civil-rights group and defense counsel as lacking in […]
Md. high court weighs constitutionality of juvenile life sentences
ANNAPOLIS – The Maryland Court of Appeals should set parole-reviewing standards to ensure that people sentenced as juveniles to life in prison have a “meaningful opportunity” for release based on their maturity and rehabilitation behind bars as required by the Constitution, a public defender told the state’s top court Tuesday. Brian M. Saccenti said the […]
Md. high court will hear state’s juvenile-sentencing appeal
Maryland’s top court will consider whether a man sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the brutal slayings of three people and the attempted murder of two others while a juvenile was improperly granted a motion for resentencing based on the claim that his punishment is unconstitutional. The Court of Appeals […]
Constitutionality of juvenile life sentences reaches Md. high court
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland’s top court will consider whether people sentenced to life in prison for crimes committed as juveniles have a “meaningful opportunity” for clemency or parole by the state based on their maturity and rehabilitation behind bars, as required by the Constitution. The Court of Appeals on Thursday agreed to hear the appeals of […]
Md. high court weighs constitutionality of victim-impact video
A defense attorney told a skeptical Maryland high court Friday that a videotaped, set-to-music victim-impact statement designed to stir a sentencing judge’s emotions violated a convicted double-murderer’s federal constitutional rights to due process and be free from arbitrary and capricious punishment. “A sentencing proceeding in a homicide case is not a memorial service for the [&hellip[...]
Md. appellate court upholds 70-year sentence for fee-waiver fraud
The Court of Special Appeals has upheld a 70-year sentence for a man convicted of theft scheme and perjury for repeatedly making false statements about his finances to obtain waivers of civil filing fees in Montgomery County Circuit Court. The sentence imposed on Kenneth Adolphus Hinton was not cruel and unusual, the Court of Special […]
ACLU can pursue constitutionality claim for ‘juvenile lifers’ in Md.
Attorneys can proceed with lawsuit claiming Maryland is unconstitutionally holding juvenile offenders who are now adults under de facto life sentences.
Challengers to Md. sentencing of young offenders welcome 4th Ciruit’s decision
A court decision striking down the life-without-parole sentence of a juvenile offender in Virginia has provided ammunition for Maryland civil-rights attorneys who claim 200 convicts are being held unconstitutionally under de facto life sentences without parole in Maryland.
