Just because three convicted killers have nothing to lose, taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill for frivolous appeals over their life sentences.
Marie Seilhamer, Christopher M. Yon and Kristen Edmundson are asking that their life sentences be reconsidered because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled that laws mandating life sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional.
The appeals are absurd.
Seilhamer, Yon and Edmundson were adults, albeit young adults, at the time they committed their crimes. Therefore their cases don't fall within the scope of the Supreme Court decision. As a story in Friday's Mirror noted, Seilhamer was 20 and Edmundson was 19 when they killed 20-year-old Shari Jackson of Hollidaysburg.
Yon was 22 when he sexually assaulted and killed 74-year-old Arlene Piper in her Logan Township home.
The three killers argue they should have a chance to be released in the future because 18- to 25-year-olds have the same lack of maturity as juveniles and therefore should be given the same consideration under the Supreme Court decision.
What a load of hogwash.
They were legally adults and were treated as such for killing people. For that they deserve to spend the rest of their lives behind bars. They shouldn't be allowed to argue that they weren't adults just because it is inconvenient for them in this case.
Even if there were adults, the Supreme Court decision didn't say that juveniles could not be sentenced to prison for life. The justices said judges must have the power to consider mitigating factors when sentencing juveniles, therefore automatic mandatory life sentences for minors run afoul of the law.
The Blair County District Attorney's Office will ask the appeals from Seilhamer, Yon and Edmundson be dismissed without a hearing.
We hope the courts grant that request. The three killers can spend their days dreaming up fanciful ideas about gaining their freedom, but that doesn't mean their fantasies have to be taken seriously.
Our courts are too busy to waste time on baseless appeals.
