Nine months ago, after Antonio Smith had been measured for his little casket, we wrote that his death was inconvenient for Illinois legislators who don't want to lengthen the prison terms of people convicted of gun crimes. We noted then, too, that the bulk of this opposition comes from lawmakers who say longer sentences would warehouse more minority youths. But our observation that longer sentences also would keep alive more minority youths such as Antonio continues to be a loser in the General Assembly.