US Supreme Court sticks with death penalties

THE US Supreme Court has refused to overturn the death sentences of more than 100 inmates who argued their fates were improperly determined by judges, not jurors.

The 5-4 decision today spares at least four states from having to decide whether to spend millions of dollars for new sentencing hearings or consent to prison sentences for the convicted killers.

In the autumn justices will consider whether it is unconstitutional for states to execute people who committed their capital crimes when they were juveniles.