PROBLEM
Children can and do commit terrible crimes. When they do, they should be held accountable and face appropriate punishment. But children are different than adults, in that they have a greater capacity for rehabilitation. Juveniles continue to develop their identity and the direction of their lives into their early twenties. Recent findings in neuroscience show that brain maturation is a process that continues through adolescence and into early adulthood, and that impulse control, planning, and thinking ahead are skills still in development well beyond age 18. The fact that juveniles are still developing their identity means that even a heinous crime committed by a juvenile is not “evidence of an irretrievably depraved character.” See Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).
California has the worst record in the nation for racial disparity in the imposition of life without parole for juveniles. African American youth are sentenced to life without parole at over 18 times the rate of white youth. Hispanic youth are sentenced to life without parole five times more often than white youth. Evidence shows that these sentences provide little or no real deterrent effect—California’s arrest rate for violent crimes by youth is higher than many other states, including states that do not sentence children to life without parole.
Sentences of life without parole not only mean absolutely no opportunity for release, they also mean minors are often left without access to programs and rehabilitative services while in prison. This sentence was created for the worst of criminals who have no possibility of reform. While the crimes they committed caused undeniable suffering, these youth offenders are not the worst of the worst.
California’s laws should be more just: juveniles who commit horrible crimes may need to be sentenced to life in prison. But we should preserve the opportunity to review whether a person sentenced to life in prison as a child has been rehabilitated. The public agrees: A recent survey showed that 81 percent of West Coast residents believe that children are redeemable and should not spend the rest of their lives in prison.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Q: Does “life without parole” really mean no parole?
Yes. In California a sentence of life without parole (“LWOP”) means that these young offenders will die in prison with absolutely no opportunity to ask for parole. It also means those sentenced to LWOP have limited access to programs and rehabilitative services in prison, and little motivation for self improvement.
Q: When is the first time someone can ask for parole with a sentence of 25 years to life?
Only after serving 25 years in prison can an inmate ask for parole. There are no exceptions, nor is there “time off for good behavior.”
Q: Isn’t this a sentence we should use for the worst of crimes and the worst of criminals?
Yes— but that is not how it is being used with young people. Nationally, 59 percent of juveniles sentenced to LWOP are first-time offenders—without even a single crime on a juvenile court record. While their crimes are violent and cause undeniable suffering, these young offenders are not the worst of the worst.
In California, Human Rights Watch estimates that 45 percent of youth offenders serving LWOP were convicted for involvement in a murder but not as the person who committed the murder. The teen may have participated in a felony during which another participant committed murder, without the knowledge or intent of the teen.
In addition, youth in these cases are often acting under the influence of an adult. In nearly 70 percent of cases reported to Human Rights Watch in which the youth was not acting alone at least one codefendant was an adult. Survey responses reveal that in 56 percent of those cases, the adult received a lower sentence than the juvenile.
Q: Doesn’t “life without parole” help control crime?
No. As a society we’ve learned a lot since the time this sentence was enacted. Evidence indicates that life without parole provides no deterrent effect. Additionally, it is now recognized that the adolescent brain is still developing an ability to comprehend consequences and control impulses. This is particularly relevant to assessing criminal behavior and an individual’s ability to be rehabilitated. Young people are uniquely amenable to change and rehabilitation. Other jurisdictions recognize these facts and do not use life without parole for child offenders.
Q: Do other jurisdictions prohibit LWOP sentences for juveniles?
As of 2007, nine jurisdictions in the United States prohibit the sentencing of youth offenders to LWOP. These are: Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Mexico, New York, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Other states are considering reforms or have efforts underway to eliminate the sentence, including Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, and Washington.
The United States leads the world in the practice of sentencing juveniles to life without parole, claiming 99.7 percent of all youth globally serving this sentence. In fact, there are only seven such cases outside of the US. The oldest human rights treaty to which the US is a party, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, prohibits this sentence.
