The Georgia Supreme Court will consider today whether review panels that can reduce prison sentences are constitutional.
The decision could affect dozens of inmates whose sentences have already been shortened.
Prosecutors are challenging the practice. They’ve already persuaded lawmakers to phase out the three-judge panels, but they want to go further.
They say defendants, hoping to skirt a judge’s decision, abuse the panels. They also complain about the secretive process—the hearings are held behind closed doors in the Capitol.
Defense attorneys consider the panels an extra place they can appeal harsh unjustified sentences.
Lawmakers created the panels more than three decades ago in order to foster more uniform sentencing across
