American Bar Association

• Fourteen years old at the time, Osborne killed his father, then opened fire at Townsville Elementary School, killing a 6-year-old child and injuring others.
• He was sentenced to life without parole, but his attorneys have asked that a judge “give Jesse some hope” of leaving prison decades down the line.
• The judge ordered the defense to submit a detailed report by late June about abuse Osborne suffered as a child and his potential for rehabilitation.
• He said the prosecution would have 10 days to respond, though no decision has been announced as of mid-July.

The ‘superpredator’ era

• America’s history of marginalizing and criminalizing Black citizens primed the media and the public to accept his theory, as did several high-profile cases.
• Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, well before DiIulio’s article, states had already been establishing harsher sentencing laws, even for minors.
• Many laws from the “superpredator” era, however, are still on the books.
• The U.S. is still the only nation that sentences children to life without the possibility of parole.

Shifts at the Supreme Court

• Starting in the 2000s, the U.S. Supreme Court began to acknowledge that child offenders are different from adults.
• In 2005, the court banned the death penalty for people under 18, and in 2010 outlawed life sentences for juveniles convicted of nonhomicide offenses.
• In each of these decisions, the Supreme Court recognized that a lack of brain development makes adolescents, even those who commit serious and violent offenses, less culpable and more capable of change than adults.

State-by-state change

• This change in attitudes has had clear impact on state laws.
• Today, a majority of states have now banned or have no one serving JLWOP.
• More than 500 people who received their sentences before these SCOTUS cases are still serving life without parole for crimes they committed as children.

The path ahead

• Those I assist as a defense attorney often come from the same environments and tragic backgrounds as the victims I served as a prosecutor.
• The primary focus of the juvenile court has always been rehabilitation rather than punishment.

• Stewart Title announced today that Wilhelmina Kightlinger has assumed the role of Chief Underwriting Counsel for National Commercial Services (NCS) effective July 1.
• Having previously filled the role of Deputy Chief Underwriting Counsel for National Commercial Services, Kightlinger succeeds former NCS Chief Underwriting Counsel Don Wade who is stepping down to focus on mentorship and training, as well as continuing to serve as a member of the Underwriting Leadership Team for Stewart NCS and on the Senior Underwriting Committee.
• “Don has been with Stewart for nearly 30 years, serving in the NCS Chief Underwriting Counsel role for the past five years,” said Erin Sheckler, Head, National Commercial Services.
• Commercial underwriting is already a noted strength of ours at Stewart, and Wilhelmina will continue to build upon the great foundation that Don and our other Senior Underwriting Committee leaders have lain.”
  Prior to joining Stewart, Kightlinger spent 13 years at Old Republic Title, based in Tampa, FL, most recently as their General Counsel for the National Commercial Title Services Division.

• WASHINGTON, July 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global expert services and consulting firm Berkeley Research Group (BRG) announced today that former Federal Drug Administration (FDA) Chief Counsel Dan Troy has joined the firm's Washington, D.C. office as a managing director in its Health Analytics practice.
• He served as chief counsel at the FDA and spent a decade as general counsel and senior vice president of GSK plc.
• At BRG, Troy will work with law firms and pharmaceutical companies to provide expert witness testimony on FDA regulatory and related matters.
• At the FDA, Troy was a primary liaison to the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services.

• Susan M. Holden, attorney and partner at the Minneapolis personal injury law firm of SiebenCarey, was presented with the 2023 Professional Excellence Award by the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA), joining a “Who’s Who” group of prominent Minnesota attorneys and judges that dates back to 1985.
• Holden is admitted to practice in the Minnesota State and Federal Courts, the Federal Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.
• Cloud State University and her Juris Doctor with honors from William Mitchell College of Law.
• A northern Minnesota native, Holden now resides with her husband in Blaine.