Sentenced to Life as a Teenager in Maryland -- Any Hope of Freedom?

WYPR - 88.1 FM Baltimore | By Sheilah Kast,

Published January 26, 2017 at 10:21 AM EST

Do juvenile offenders in Maryland, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, have a realistic opportunity for release? A federal judge heard arguments on this question this month, in a lawsuit filed on behalf of three men, now in their 50s, who were sentenced as teenagers. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it’s unconstitutional to juveniles to life without the chance of parole. We discuss the case with Walter Lomax, executive director of the Maryland Restorative Justice Initiative.

Sheilah Kast

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am. Originally, she hostedWYPR's Dupont-Columbia University award-winning Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast from 2006 - October2015. She began her career at The Washington Star, where she covered the Maryland and Virginia legislatures, utilities, energy and taxes, as well as financial and banking regulation. She learned the craft of broadcasting at ABC News; as a Washington correspondent for fifteen years, she covered the White House, Congress, and the 1991 Moscow coup that signaled the end of the Soviet empire. Sheilahhas been a substitute host on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday and The DianeRehmShow. She has launched and hosted two weekly interview shows on public TV, one about business and one about challenges facing older people.

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Maureen Harvie

Maureen Harvie is a producer for Midday with Dan Rodricks. She began her career at WYPR as an intern for the newsroom, where she covered issues ranging from medical marijuana to off-shore wind energy.

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