Alaska appeals court clears way to challenge juvenile life sentences

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska appeals court ruling now provides legal grounds for people who were sentenced to life as juveniles to have their sentences re-examined. The Anchorage Daily News reports that the Alaska Court of Appeals ruled Friday in the case of Winona Fletcher, who was 14 when she and a boyfriend fatally shot three people in Anchorage in the 1980s. The court ruled last year that the state constitution requires a sentencing judge to consider factors like a juvenile’s age before sentencing them to what amounts to life without parole. On Friday, the appeals court affirmed a lower court ruling that the decision should be applied retroactively.