BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana senators have refused to back the House’s version of a bill that would grant parole eligibility to inmates sentenced to life without parole for murders they committed as teenagers.
The Senate sent Sen. Dan Claitor’s bill to a six-member legislative conference committee Thursday to work out a final version.
Claitor, a Baton Rouge Republican, called for granting parole eligibility for juvenile offenders after 25 years.
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The House changed the bill to give prosecutors the ability to seek life-without-parole sentences for the “worst of the worst.” The House also said inmates should have to wait 30 years for parole eligibility.
The measure follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down automatic no-parole life sentences for crimes committed by those under the age of 18.
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Senate Bill 16: www.legis.la.gov
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