Branstad Moves To Keep Convicted Iowa Killers In Prison

A view of the prison yard from a cell block at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison on Thursday, March 31, 2011. (Matt Nelson/SourceMedia Group News)

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By Richard Pratt

Story Created: Jul 16, 2012 at 12:05 PM CDT

Story Updated: Jul 16, 2012 at 4:50 PM CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has commuted 38 life sentences as part of a plan to keep killers who committed their crimes as juveniles in prison and forestall their resentencings.

The action Branstad announced Monday will change 38 sentences from life without the possibility of parole to life sentences that allow parole only after 60 years.

Branstad chose to act because a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision barred sentences of life without parole for juveniles.

Branstad says he wants to protect the victims of violent crime.

Last week, an Iowa court vacated the sentences of two Iowa inmates who were teenagers when they were involved in murders. It wasn't immediately clear how Branstad's action would affect the cases of Christine Lockheart and Thomas Bennett.

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