Editing Joshua Phillips (section)

==Status==
Joshua Phillips was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole on August 26<sup>th</sup>, 1999.

In 2002, an appeals court upheld Phillips's conviction. In December 2004, Melissa Phillips began to seek a new trial for her son, noting that his young age at the time of the murder should have carried more weight in his sentence. In 2005, new hearing dates were set for Phillips. In 2008, two of the officials behind his sentence, States Attorney Harry Shorstein and Sheriff Nat Glover, confirmed their belief that Phillips deserved a jail sentence, but admitted having second thoughts about the no-parole life sentence for the 14 year old. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sentencing juveniles to mandatory life without parole is unconstitutional. It was unclear at that time if Phillips' attorney would seek re-sentencing.

In November 2015, Phillips' attorneys were considering the Supreme Court ruling as a basis to file a re-sentencing hearing. In September 2016, after Phillips' attorneys successfully appealed the court, he was granted a new sentencing hearing as a result of retroactive application of the Supreme Court's ruling which declared his current sentence, mandatory life in prison without parole, unconstitutional for juvenile offenders. A resentencing date was initially set for February 2017. In February 2017, Phillips' lawyer asked for more time to prepare and subsequently a new sentencing hearing was set for June 2017. At the hearing, Clifton's mother requested for his sentence be upheld. On November 17, 2017, Phillips was re-sentenced to life in prison, but is eligible for parole in 2023.