This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
After less than a minute of floor debate on the Utah Legislature's final day, the Senate gave final passage to a bill to end the practice of sentencing minors to life in prison without parole for violent crimes.
It voted 23-0 to pass HB405, and sent it to Gov. Gary Herbert for his possible signature.
The bill would still allow sentences of 25 years to life, but afford young convicts a chance to convince the Board of Pardons that they deserve to be released eventually.
"Science shows that children's brains are not fully developed," said Rep. Lowry Snow, R-St. George, the bill's sponsor and an attorney, during earlier debate. "I'm not the same person I was, and I don't think the same way I did, when I was 15 or 16."
But Rep. Merrill Nelson, R-Grantsville, another attorney, said he recently talked to the father of a teen who was raped and murdered by another teen and was convinced that some crimes "are so heinous, so violent, so destructive" they merit life in prison without parole. "Why," asked Nelson, "should we take that discretion away from the judge?"
Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, said the bill could still allow keeping someone who remains a problem in prison for all their lives, but allows release if he or she changes — and said it is an option that should be allowed.
Currently, two people are serving life sentences in Utah for rapes and stabbings that were handed down when they were under the age of 18. The bill would not change those sentences.
— Lee Davidson