Florida has made little progress in resentencing juvenile lifers — despite U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
Despite U.S. mandate, about 600 Florida inmates still wait
TALLAHASSEE — Florida has roughly 600 inmates whose life sentences for homicide are potentially affected by court rulings mandating a second look at the punishment of juvenile offenders, but most still await a shot at resentencing.
Two U.S. Supreme Court rulings, the latest last year, concluded that it’s unconstitutional to impose mandatory life sentences without a chance for parole on juveniles convicted of homicide. The justices ruled that such sentences amount to cruel and unusual punishment and that courts must recognize teens’ incomplete brain development and potential for rehabilitation.
Florida court decisions have applied the ban more broadly, however, requiring a new look at any juvenile serving life — even if the sentence was optional or included the possibility of parole. A state law passed three years ago said those terms are to be automatically reviewed by a circuit court judge after 15, 20 or 25 years served, depending on the crime. The state Supreme Court ruled that the reviews should be extended to those former teen offenders who were already in prison before the law was changed.
But so far, only about 85 of those inmates have been resentenced, said Roseanne Eckert, the coordinating attorney with the Florida Juvenile Resentencing and Review Project at Florida International University.
The slow pace stems from various factors. A lack of money has kept some prosecutors and public defenders from revisiting cases quickly. Some elected prosecutors have adapted more rapidly than others to the mandated reviews. And state courts have struggled to figure out which types of sentences comply with the rulings.
“We probably haven’t hit the tip of the iceberg of the amount of work that needs to be done,” said Nancy Daniels, who spent 26 years as a public defender for the judicial circuit that includes the state capital.
“We are still feeling our way through the process,” added Glenn Hess, the state attorney for five counties in northern Florida and president of the association that represents Flor-