Last year I had the privilege of attending oral arguments at the SCOTUS for the appeal of Lee Boyd Malvo’s, the DC Sniper, life without parole sentence. Even though Mr. Malvo’s case was mooted by a recently passed Virginia law allowing youth sentenced to LWOP to request parol after 20 years, the issue presented still remains – what procedures must be followed by a sentencing court to ensure that the accused’s youth is considered in order for a LWOP sentence to be considered constitutionally sound. I wrote about my experience and thoughts for JJIE. The article can be found here.
