On his final day in office, Gov

On his final day in office, Gov. Paul Patton said today he commuted the death sentence of a convicted murderer who was 17 at the time of his crime. In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Stanford's case that states are free to impose the death penalty for murderers who committed their crimes while age 16 and 17. His case returned to the high court last year, and four justices delivered stinging criticism of what they called the "shameful practice" of executing juveniles, which is banned in most countries. The 4 hinted that it would be up to state leaders to show that a consensus has developed that it's cruel to impose capital punishment on juveniles. The commutation changed Kevin Stanford's sentence to life in prison without parole. The commutation was no surprise. Patton said last month he intended to grant it. Stanford was 17 when he sodomized and killed a young woman, Baerbel Poore in January 1981 in the course of a robbery. Patton said he would grant no pardons and no other forms of clemency on his final day. He earlier pardoned 2 of his aides and 2 former Teamsters officials who were indicted - but never came to trial - allegedly breaking campaign finance laws during Patton's 1995 election victory.