Federal court: Juveniles can be sentenced to life in prison without parole

The Huntsville Times/File photo

ATLANTA — A federal appeals court is allowing courts to sentence juveniles who were convicted of murder to life in prison without parole.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals weighed in on the debate today with a 61-page opinion that upheld the sentence given to Kenneth Loggins, who was convicted in Alabama of killing a hitchhiker in 1994 when he was 17.
Loggins was originally sentenced to die, but his punishment was reduced after the Supreme Court banned the execution of inmates who were juveniles at the time of their offense.
Defense attorneys asked the three-judge panel to overturn the sentence because it was too strict, but the Atlanta-based court rejected the argument.