{"id":29741,"date":"2018-04-27T12:31:37","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T17:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=29741"},"modified":"2018-04-27T13:06:56","modified_gmt":"2018-04-27T18:06:56","slug":"why-legislators-and-das-want-new-rules-for-sentencing-teens-to-life-without-parole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/04\/27\/why-legislators-and-das-want-new-rules-for-sentencing-teens-to-life-without-parole\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Legislators And DAs Want New Rules For Sentencing Teens To Life Without Parole"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Quinton Chandler\/StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n

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Tucker McGee is in prison for\u00a0murdering teenager JaRay Wilson<\/a>.\u00a0McGee was days away from turning 18. Now, more than five years after the murder, Legislators and district attorneys fear his sentence of life in prison without parole is on the verge of being reduced.<\/p>

McGee\u2019s sentence is one of several dozen that could be changed because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled mandatory life without parole sentences<\/a> for juveniles unconstitutional in 2012<\/a>. Four years later, the court decided that ruling would also apply to sentences handed down in earlier years<\/a>. Justices said life without parole for juveniles should be reserved for those who cannot be rehabilitated.<\/p>

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with the higher court ruling<\/a> when it ordered district courts to re-sentence McGee and Chancey Luna \u2014 another inmate facing life without parole for the 2013 shooting of college baseball player Chris Lane<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Problem and DA\u2019s Solution<\/h3>

The problem with the sentences is that state law does not set standards for courts to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether juveniles deserve a life without parole sentence. That\u2019s why Oklahoma lawmakers and district attorneys guided Senate Bill 1221 through the state House earlier this week.<\/p>

The House version of the bill<\/a> details education and skill requirements for members of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, but it was amended to include a procedure judges would use to decide whether juveniles convicted of first-degree murder should spend the rest of their lives in prison.<\/p>

Here are a few things the judge would have to consider:<\/p>\n