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Oklahoma seeks to keep no-parole sentences for children

Posted at 4:16 PM, May 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-09 17:16:33-04

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma's Legislature is living up to its tough-on-crime reputation, and juvenile offenders are the latest target.

While states across the country are easing no-parole sentences for children, Oklahoma's Republican-led Legislature shifted in the other direction this session and approved a bill to make it easier for judges to put teenage offenders behind bars with no chance for release.

Pushed by the state's prosecutors late in the session, the bill is now under review by Republican Gov. Mary Fallin, who hasn't said if she'll sign it.

Oklahoma has at least 41 criminal defendants serving no-parole sentences for crimes committed when they were 17 or younger. Included among those is Chancey Luna, who was 16 when he fatally shot Christopher Lane, a college baseball player from Australia who was jogging in Duncan.

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