{"id":14200,"date":"2024-03-26T15:14:15","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T15:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/?p=14200"},"modified":"2024-03-26T15:14:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T15:14:16","slug":"high-court-judge-nixon-sifuna-explains-why-life-sentence-is-unconstitutional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/?p=14200","title":{"rendered":"High Court Judge Nixon Sifuna Explains Why Life Sentence is Unconstitutional."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Justice-Sifuna-scaled-e1657709037719.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Justice-Sifuna-scaled-e1657709037719.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Justice-Sifuna-scaled-e1657709037719-480x320.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 630px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">High Court Judge Nixon Sifuna has added his voice to a chorus of judicial figures advocating for a reform in the sentencing of individuals to indefinite terms of imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a recent ruling on an incest case, Professor Sifuna articulated his stance, contending that imposing a life sentence is constitutionally problematic due to its ambiguity regarding the duration of incarceration. He argued that the concept of a life sentence fails to specify when an individual should be eligible for release, rendering it unconstitutional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Echoing sentiments expressed by Court of Appeal judges Pauline Nyamweya, Jessie Lesiit, and George Odunga, Justice Sifuna highlighted the perceived equivalence between a life sentence and a death sentence. He reasoned that true freedom, as guaranteed by the law, can only be attained through death, thus likening a life sentence to a perpetual denial of liberty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the case under review, Justice Sifuna issued a verdict directing a man identified by the pseudonym JNN to serve a fixed term of 10 years in prison. JNN had been convicted of the heinous crime of defiling his own 10-year-old daughter in Murang\u2019a in 2017 and had initially been sentenced to life imprisonment. Discontented with the verdict, JNN lodged an appeal challenging both his conviction and the severity of the sentence imposed upon him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Judge Sifuna&#8217;s advocacy for reform in the penal system reflects a broader trend within the judiciary, where multiple instances have occurred of courts questioning the constitutionality and human dignity implications of life imprisonment. This marks the fourth occasion where the courts have found fault with the imposition of life sentences, signaling a growing consensus for change within the legal sphere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>High Court Judge Nixon Sifuna has added his voice to a chorus of judicial figures advocating for a reform in the sentencing of individuals to indefinite terms of imprisonment. In a recent ruling on an incest case, Professor Sifuna articulated his stance, contending that imposing a life sentence is constitutionally problematic due to its ambiguity [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":14201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Justice-Sifuna-scaled-e1657709037719.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14202,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14200\/revisions\/14202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}