Supreme Court case: Hope for Idaho teens sentenced to life?

Of Idaho’s roughly 8,000 inmates, four have a dubious distinction: Ethan Windom, Sarah Johnson, Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper were each sentenced as teens to life in prison without parole for murder.

But a series of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings is calling into question whether fixed life sentences are unconstitutionally cruel and unusual when imposed on juveniles.

Idaho doesn’t have a standard process for reviewing sentences in light of new Supreme Court rulings.

Idaho defense attorney Dennis Benjamin says the state should automatically review all four cases in light of the new case law. Sarah Johnson has already lost a petition on the matter to the Idaho Supreme Court, but Benjamin says he plans to appeal her case to the U.S. Supreme Court.