On November 9, 2009, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida. In both cases the court will decide whether or not sentencing a juvenile to life without parole for a non-homicide offense violates the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Campaign Advisory Committee member Bryan Stevenson argued on behalf of Joe Sullivan who was convicted of sexual battery when he was thirteen years old and then sentenced to die in prison. More information about the cases can be found on the Equal Justice Initiative website.
Recent articles on JLWOP and the Supreme Court:
- Teen felons need chance for parole (The Buffalo News)
- Line Drawn in One Case Dissolves in Another (The New York Times)
- On trial: system that locks children up for life without hope of freedom (The Herald Scotland)
- Politicians Saved At All Costs (The Sun News)
- Second chances (Lancaster Intelligencer Journal)
- Ugly Truth: Most U.S. Kids Sentenced to Die In Prison Are Black (Alternet.org)
Amicus briefs filed in Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida
Adolescent Psychologists and Scientists
American Medical Association & the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Center on the Administration of Criminal Law
Disability Rights Legal Center
