The California Legislature has approved a bill giving prisoners sentenced as juveniles to life without parole a chance to one day be released.
Gov. Jerry Brown has not indicated whether he will sign or veto the bill.
The measure, SB 9, would allow such prisoners who have served at lease 15 years to ask a judge to reduce their sentence to 25 years-to-life if the inmate has shown remorse and is working toward rehabilitation.
Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, says his bill recognizes that young people do foolish things but change as they age. Sen. Joel Anderson, R-La Mesa, called the bill “absolutely outrageous.”