There are more than 2,500 people in the United States serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes committed under the age of eighteen. In the spring of 2010, the United States Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of imposing such sentences on a subset of these juvenile offenders who were convicted of non-homicide crimes. This constitutional challenge was brought before the court in two cases, 

This Issue Brief begins by explaining why the practice of sentencing youth to life in prison without the possibility of parole is deeply flawed public policy. First, we address the long-recognized principle that youth are different from adults, reinforced in recent years by adolescent development brain science, as well as by examples of youth who were successfully rehabilitated. Second, we critique the frequently argued notion that harsh sentencing is necessary to protect public safety, a premise undermined by both the inconsistent and arbitrary application and by the resulting diversion of taxpayer dollars that could be used to increase public safety through prevention programs. Third, we discuss how the sentencing of youth to life in prison without the possibility of parole undermines America’s moral standing in the world, as the only nation in the world that imposes this irrevocable sentence on people under the age of eighteen. 

We conclude the Issue Brief with a suggested alternative to the practice of sentencing youth to life in prison without the possibility of parole which balances the need to hold youth who commit serious crimes accountable, while still recognizing their inherent capacity for change. We recommend the creation of a system that would allow for meaningful periodic review of sentences given to youth convicted of serious offenses to determine whether they continue to pose a threat to society or may be able to return to our communities as productive citizens. This is a common sense solution to an irrational and grossly misguided policy.

Read the Full Brief

Contact: Allison Conyers,   757-870-8749   or aconyers@fairsentencingofyouth.org

Note:  A petition on behalf of Sara Kruzan was filed in Riverside, CA Monday, February 8.

Statement by Jody Kent, Director and National Coordinator of the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth

“Sara Kruzan is just one of more than 2500 people in the United States sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for crimes committed when they were a teenager.  No other country imprisons children or teenagers for the rest of their lives without hope for release.

A deeply troubled teen, with a drug addicted mother and an absent father, Sara defied the odds by excelling as a student. But at the age of 13 she was raped and forced into prostitution, three years later she shot her pimp.  Like Sara, the majority of young people sentenced to life without parole are first time offenders.  Science tells us that young people act impulsively without considering the consequences of their actions, and they are less culpable.  However, the same immaturity and flexibility that makes teenagers susceptible to outside influences also makes them strong candidates for rehabilitation.  Therefore, it is irresponsible and immoral to sentence youth to die in prison.

Unlike Sara most of the 2500 young people who are serving this harsh, irrevocable sentence will never again have their cases considered by a judge, jury, elected official or even an attorney.  They cannot afford legal representation, have no recourse in court and fail to get pardons.

We should not be in the practice of giving up on troubled teenagers who commit serious crimes.  A review of sentences later in life will give young people an opportunity to prove whether or not they continue to pose a risk to society.  We need age-appropriate, science-based policies in place that focus on rehabilitating young people, such as Sara, who are convicted of serious crimes.  This will ensure that youth, who we know are capable of change and growth, may one day return to our communities as productive citizens.”

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The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth is a national campaign dedicated to ending the practice of sentencing youth to life in prison without the opportunity to prove remorse and rehabilitation.

Contact: Allison Conyers,  757-870-8749 or aconyers@fairsentencingofyouth.org

Note:  A hearing will be held Friday, January 29 to determine whether Jordan Brown–accused of killing his father’s girlfriend at age 11–will  be tried as an adult.  If tried as an adult and found guilty Jordan Brown will be the youngest person in the world sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Statement by Jody Kent, Director and National Coordinator of the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth

“The murder of Kenzie Marie Houk was tragic, and the person who is responsible for it should be held accountable and punished in an age appropriate way.

If the currently accused Jordan Brown is tried and convicted in adult court, he will receive a mandatory life without parole sentence. This means he will be sent to prison for the rest of his life for a crime committed at the age of 11- no judge or jury will have the discretion to modify this irrevocable sentence.  He will become the youngest person in the nation, and the world to receive this sentence.”

This case provides an example of the tremendously irrational approach to juvenile crime our nation has adopted.  The practice of sentencing youth to die in prison ignores what science, and common sense, tells us– children, by definition, are still growing and changing.  Children, even those convicted of serious crimes, are not simply adults in smaller form.  Their brains are not fully developed and therefore, they are more impressionable and more impulsive than adults.  They have less capacity to consider the consequences of their actions, but greater capacity to reform their behavior.

It is irresponsible and immoral to simply give up on them for life.  Instead, youth convicted of serious crimes should have incentives to improve their behavior and reform themselves so that they may, one day, return to our communities as productive citizens.”

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The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth is a national campaign dedicated to ending the practice of sentencing youth to life in prison without the opportunity to prove remorse and rehabilitation.

By Sadie Gurman

Twelve-year-old Jordan Brown’s future rests in a courtroom. The question is which one.

Prosecutors say the fifth-grader used a 20-gauge shotgun to kill his father’s pregnant fiancee as she slept in February in their farmhouse in New Beaver.

If he is tried and found delinquent in juvenile court, the state could not incarcerate him beyond his 21st birthday.

If he is tried and convicted of first-degree murder in adult court, experts say he would become the youngest person in the United States to serve a mandatory life sentence in prison without parole.

. . .

“It is irresponsible to be sending into adult court these youth who are still growing and changing,” said Jody Kent, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Fair Sentencing of Youth, which is monitoring the case.

“It’s impossible to determine now what an 11-year-old is going to look like 20, 30, 40 years from now.”

Read more. . .

By Jeff Eckhoff

The lawyer for a 31-year-old woman serving life in prison for a murder she committed as a teen called Tuesday on the Iowa Supreme Court to treat children differently under the state’s sentencing laws.

“It is our position that a judgment that there is no distinction between a child of 14 and an adult” is improper, said attorney Brian Stevenson of Equal Justice Initiatives, an Alabama-based juvenile-advocate group. “To say to any child of 14 that ‘you’re only fit to die in prison’ is cruel and unusual.”

A state lawyer countered that some crimes deserve an absolute punishment regardless of age.

“I think we all agree that we don’t want this to happen to a typical 14-year-old,” Assistant Iowa Attorney General Thomas Andrews told the justices. “But Ruthann Veal is not a typical 14-year-old.”

Veal was a heavily abused child whom Andrews described as “a violent recidivist.” Court records say she was 14 years and 11 months old in June 1993 when she fled from a juvenile group home, entered the Waterloo home of Catherine Haynes, 66, grabbed a kitchen knife and attacked her.

Read More . . .

A year ago, Maydellyn Lamourt watched her 16-year-old son’s dreams fall apart.

The outgoing sophomore who enjoyed playing sports was charged and sentenced as an adult in Connecticut for third-degree assault.

The crime: He and a friend stole a pack of gum from another teen.

Because he entered the adult penal system, the teen’s prospects of joining the Marines are dim. His troubles have landed him in an alternative high school.

If Lamourt’s son had committed the crime this month, his situation would be different. His record would have been sealed in the juvenile system.

Read More. . .

By Ellis Cose

One day, treatment of young people who run afoul of the law may be guided by logic rather than politics, prejudice, and uninformed passion. That was the implicit message of a report delivered to New York Gov. David Paterson last month, just in time for Christmas. The report, from the governor’s task force on reforming criminal justice, came on the heels of a U.S. Justice Department investigation that found New York’s juvenile penal system to be tragically mismanaged.

Youngsters in custody were routinely assaulted by staffers. Beatings were so severe that teeth were knocked out, bones were broken, and some kids were rendered unconscious. The assaults were sometimes sparked by infractions no more serious than laughing or stealing a cookie. The incarceration and the primitive methods accompanying it came at a substantial cost: $210,000 a year per child. Wouldn’t it make more sense, task-force members reasoned, to reserve incarceration for those who posed a threat to public safety? For youngsters who are not deemed dangerous, other methods seem more reasonable. “The state should treat and rehabilitate them, not hurt and harden them,” wrote the task force.

Read More. . .

Editorial

The United States is the only nation in which someone can be locked up forever, with no chance for parole, for a crime committed in his or her youth. The Supreme Court is expected in coming days or weeks to rule on whether states may continue this costly, foolish and cruel practice of extinguishing a youth’s hope and chances at redemption, even in cases in which no one died.

By Paul Hammel

LINCOLN — Two studies commissioned by the Nebraska Legislature suggest that the state’s judicial system for juveniles is broken and must be changed to properly address cases of abuse and neglect, youth crime and truancy.

Reports on the studies, released Thursday at a public hearing, cited problems such as inadequately trained and overworked attorneys, lack of attorney-child consultation, and a lack of mental health services for juveniles.

One study indicated that the state’s system of appointing lawyers as guardians ad litem to advocate for a child’s best interests in abuse and neglect cases was a “cruel fraud” because the attorneys often don’t meet with their clients and end up serving as a “rubber stamp” rather than an advocate.

“It makes it look like there is a voice for Nebraska’s children in the court process, but in fact, that voice is mute,” concluded a report by the National Association of Counsel for Children, a child advocacy group based in Aurora, Colo.

Read More. . .

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske

More than two dozen youths and advocates gathered in front of the criminal courts building in downtown Los Angeles to support two young males who were sentenced today to 50 years to life in prison for a fatal drive-by shooting.

A jury convicted Steven Menendez, 17, and Jose Garcia, 19, of murder in July in the March 2007 death of 16-year-old Danny Saavedra.

Saavedra was playing basketball in the 500 block of 82nd Street in South Los Angeles when he was shot in what police described as a gang-related attack. Afterward, officers pursued a vehicle matching the description of the one used in the killing, and when Garcia and Menendez got out, they were arrested.

Both later said they were just passengers and identified the shooter as Noel Velasco, a 26-year-old member of the Street Villains gang. Velasco was never charged and was shot to death three months later.

Read More. . .