Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A proposal to give people convicted of crimes as teenagers a chance at parole after 15 years is being considered by Rhode Island state lawmakers.
The state Senate is scheduled to vote Tuesday on legislation to make prisoners eligible for parole after 15 years if they’re incarcerated for a crime committed before they turned 18 years old.
Democratic state Attorney General Peter Kilmartin is opposed to the measure. Kilmartin says it basically eliminates life without parole for juveniles, which he says precludes using that sentence for a juvenile who commits an “unimaginably horrific crime.”
No inmates are currently serving life without parole in Rhode Island for crimes committed as juveniles. But there are nine people serving lengthy sentences for juvenile crimes who could be affected if the bill becomes law.