/Portals/2/logos/__TFMF_ghhsegycyyn1alqofcgbg145_e80d951d-6363-4f71-99b2-679d36e275ef_0___Selected.jpg en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Tue, 21 May 2013 21:07:20 GMT 15 By Tyler LaBonte
Is it cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a minor to life in prison without the chance for parole for a non homicidal crime? This year, the US Supreme Court will hear and decide upon whether sentencing a minor to life is cruel and unusual punishment. Only two minors have have been tried as adults for non homicidal crimes and received such a sentence in the US. In May of 1989 in Escambia, Florida, Joe Sullivan, a 13 year old African American boy, was playing in the streets. Two older boys, Nathan McCants, and Micheal Gulley, convinced him to come with them to rob a house. The owner of the house, an elderly woman, was out at the time. When she came home, the 72 year old woman was blindfolded, tied up and brutally raped. Sullivan, the only one of the three boys tried as an adult, was found guilty by a jury of six in a shaky, racially intensified trial; it included race as a source of identifacation for the defendant, Sullivan. Sullivan, 13, was then sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and sent to an adult prison. Is it cruel and unusual punishment for a minor to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for non homicidal crimes? Sullivan had a troubled childhood and was beaten by his guardians and peers. Now 33, Sullivan is still in jail, confined to a wheelchair, and maintains his innocence. His case has made it all the way through the appelant court system and is now being heard in the U.S. Supreme Court as they ask the same question the public does, is life imprisonment for a minor cruel and unusual punishment? At Nauset High School, a one question survey was passed out to a random group of 30 students varying in age that asked the same question. After being given the backround for the case of Joe Sullivan, 97 percent said that it was cruel and unusual punishment. Ian Kinahan stated "Life in prison is a little harsh. You only get one. Especially under these circumstances". The students almost unanimously agree that Florida should not have sentenced Sullivan to such a cruel sentence because he was so young (13). Sullivan, sitting in his wheel chair in jail, will pray and wait to see if the Supreme Court decides that this sentence is or is not cruel and unusual punishment. ]]> Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:41:31 GMT