LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – The Arkansas Supreme Court says a man sentenced to
life in prison for a capital murder committed when he was a teenager deserves a
new sentencing hearing.
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court said sending juvenile offenders to prison
forever was a cruel punishment. Arkansas legislators have since made such
inmates eligible for parole after 30 years, but Derrick Harris says Arkansas
justices had ruled in another case that penalties for Class Y felonies should
apply: they’re as low as 10 years.
Justices ruled Thursday that the Legislature’s decision to make inmates
eligible for parole after 30 years cannot be applied retroactively and ordered a
new sentencing hearing for Harris, who was convicted in Drew County.
Two justices dissented. Justice Shawn Womack of Mountain Home said Thursday’s
decision “likely opened the prison doors.”
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