By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 12, 2017 at 7:15 AM, updated January 12, 2017 at 8:56 AM
TRENTON — In what legal experts are calling an important decision, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday to overhaul the way New Jersey judges sentence juveniles convicted in violent crimes that could keep them in prison until they are elderly or dead.
The state’s highest court ruled 7-0 that judges must consider a number of factors — including age, family environment, and peer pressure — before issuing lengthy sentences to youths in serious cases.
Peter Verniero, a former state Supreme Court justice and state attorney general, said this is “one of the most significant sentencing decisions” the court has made in “many years.”
