John Hope Bryant: “What prompted me to push for a life without parole sentence involved the case of Sgt. Michael Teeter. Sgt. Teeter was…”

“What prompted me to push for a life without parole sentence involved the case of Sgt. Michael Teeter. Sgt. Teeter was sentenced to life in prison on June 10, 1980, by a military court for the brutal rape and murder of Eva Hicks-Ransom. The murder occurred in my district in Clarksville, Tennessee. After serving only 15 years of his life sentence, Teeter was granted parole. Because the only alternative to a life sentence was the death penalty, I felt a new, life without parole sentence would provide a jury with a broader range of options depending on the severity of the crime. In cases where the death penalty was too harsh, but the possibility of an offender eventually re-entering society was unconscionable, life without parole would give the jury a reasonable alternative. Since the creation of the life without parole sentence, however, the Department of Defense has issued an Instruction which states that a person sentenced to life without parole will still be eligible for clemency.”