Bruning Seeks Court Order to Allow Board of Pardons to Make Comm - KHGI-TV/KWNB-TV/KHGI-CD-Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning is seeking a court order that would allow the state pardons board to lessen the sentences of prison inmates serving life for crimes they committed as juveniles.

The attorney general filed the motion Tuesday after a Douglas County judge blocked the pardons board from holding hearings on 24 cases.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad took similar action in July, when he commuted life without parole sentences of 38 convicted killers.

Bruning released a statement Tuesday saying, "Today's filing states that Article IV, Section 13 of the Nebraska Constitution gives the Nebraska Board of Pardons the authority to make commutation decisions.

"These hearings are the most efficient way to ensure justice is served and the public is protected from dangerous offenders."