1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Mathena v. MalvoA Challenge to Life Without Parole for the Juvenile D.C. Sniper Updated February 27, 2020 UPDATE: On February 24, 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed into law HB 35, which provide
2、s that any person previously sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for offenses committed as a juvenile shall be eligible for parole after serving 20 years in prison. The new law effectively abolishes juvenile life without parole sentences in Virginia, and Lee Boyd Malvos attorney expects th
3、at it will render Malvo eligible for parole in Virginia in 2022. The parties in Mathena v. Malvo filed a stipulation of dismissal in light of HB 35, and on February 26, 2020, the Supreme Court dismissed the case. Federal law and multiple states (including Maryland, where Malvo also received several
4、life without parole sentences) still allow sentences of life without parole for juvenile offenders in some circumstances. However, any Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of those sentencing practices will have to await a future case. The original post from October 10, 2019, is below. On