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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:11 am
Time: 1:11 am
Results for life imprisonment, juveniles
2 results foundAuthor: Calvin, Elizabeth Title: Against All Odds: Prison Conditions for Youth Offenders Serving Life without Parole Sentences in the United States Summary: Currently, more than 2,500 inmates in the United States await death in adult prison, sentenced to life without parole for crimes they committed while they were under the age of 18. Youth offenders serving life without parole enter prison with developmental needs for protection, education, and other services in order to be able to fully mature into adulthood. Yet youth offenders are among the inmates most susceptible to physical and sexual assault during their incarceration, are often placed in isolated segregation, and are frequently classified in ways that can deprive them of access to rehabilitative programs. The United States is the only country in the world with youth offenders serving life without parole sentences, in violation of international human rights law. Against All Odds details the strong evidence that youth offenders serving life without parole are imprisoned in conditions that violate fundamental international human rights law and standards. Based on information from corrections departments across the country and hundreds of youth offenders serving life without parole, the report documents how states fail to protect youth offenders from physical assault and sexual violence, to administer adequate mental health care, or to provide access to age-appropriate services and programs. Despite the fact that the length of their sentence and their youth upon entering adult prison make growth and rehabilitation extraordinarily difficult, some youth offenders sentenced to life without parole do achieve emotional, intellectual, and personal transformation in prison—an extraordinary fact given the hurdles they face. Human Rights Watch calls on the US government to abolish the sentence of life without parole for crimes committed by persons below the age of 18 and to investigate and improve conditions for youth offenders imprisoned across the United States. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2012. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 10, 2012 at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0112ForUpload_1.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0112ForUpload_1.pdf Shelf Number: 123546 Keywords: Juvenile DetentionJuvenile InmatesJuvenile OffendersLife Imprisonment, JuvenilesLife Without ParolePrison Rape, JuvenilesSexual Assault, Juvenile Inmates |
Author: Kent, Jody Title: A Just Alternative to Sentencing Youth to Life in Prison Without the Possibility of Parole Summary: 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, Sullivan v. Florida and Graham v. Florida, for for which arguments were heard in November 2009. As Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledged in those oral arguments, the Court has previously recognized that “juveniles are different.” Regardless of whether the Court extends that precedent to find the sentencing of youth to life in prison without the possibility of parole unconstitutional in one or both of these cases, advocates for youth have called for reform of extreme sentencing policies, on the basis that they grossly undermine rational, fair, and age-appropriate treatment of youth. 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. Details: Washington, DC: American Constitution Society for Law and Society, 2010. 10p. Source: Issue Brief: Internet Resource: Accessed September 23, 2012 at http://www.acslaw.org/sites/default/files/Kent%20Colgan%20Juvenile%20Life%20Issue%20Brief_0.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.acslaw.org/sites/default/files/Kent%20Colgan%20Juvenile%20Life%20Issue%20Brief_0.pdf Shelf Number: 126404 Keywords: Life Imprisonment, JuvenilesLife Without Parole, JuvenilesSentencing ReformSentencing, Juveniles |