Santana High shooter ruling follows evolving approach to juvenile offenders

For many, it was a surprise when a San Diego judge issued a ruling last week that could see the region’s most notorious school shooter freed from prison at age 39.

But a series of laws and court rulings favoring rehabilitation for youth offenders for more than a decade have paved the way for the possible release of Santana High School shooter Charles “Andy” Williams, who killed two classmates and wounded 11 more students and two adults in March 2001.

No longer can anyone under age 16 be charged as an adult in California courts. Parole is now available to youth offenders after serving 25 years of their sentence. And lawmakers have created a path for youths previously sentenced to life without the possibility parole to seek relief.

Then there are those like Williams, who, at 15 years old, was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. Recently, courts have been grappling with the question: When does such a lengthy sentence become a de facto sentence of life without parole?

Last week, San Diego Superior Court Judge Lisa Rodriguez found that such a lengthy sentence is essentially life without parole. She recalled — or essentially, erased — Williams’ sentence and set him to be resentenced in Juvenile Court. There, he will get the benefits of today’s laws governing juvenile offenders, and that likely translat...