In 2002, Michael Farmer pled guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. He was 17 at the time, and was subsequently sentenced to two consecutive life sentences with the possibility of parole. He was thus classified as a “juvenile lifer.” Now, 20 years later, he...
In 1984, Lloyd Hall was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a burglary that he did not commit. Lloyd received this sentence under Maryland’s “three strikes” law. This law permits the State to seek a mandatory life sentence against a...
In December 1865, Georgia became the 27th state to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment and thus enumerated the abolition of slavery into the United States Constitution. However, the Thirteenth Amendment contains a lesser-known exemption clause that allows slavery as a “punishment for crime whereof the party...
During the height of the “tough on crime” era of the 1990’s, Gov. Parris Glendening, declared that “life means life” and therefore he would not grant parole to any prisoner who was serving a life sentence. Since then, both Republican and Democratic governors have followed...
