Another potent report calling for juve sentencing reforms

As detailed in this press report, an “Illinois youth justice advocacy group called for the abolition of life-without-parole sentencing for youths 17 and under on Wednesday.”  Here are more details from the article:

The Illinois Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Children interviewed 103 state prisoners who got that maximum sentence even though they were 14 to 17-year-olds. The oldest prisoner who talked about his life-without-parole sentence as a youth, is now 47.  The study concluded that adolescents should have the chance to come before a parole board within the first 15 to 20 years of their life sentence.

The group said it is inhumane to lock-up minors for life without the chance of parole.  They said adolescents are less culpable than adults and are capable of being rehabilitated. The coalition pointed out that the  U.S. Supreme Court 2005 recognized that children are “categorically less culpable” for their crimes because their brain development is still evolving.  Some psychiatrists said that young adults are not necessarily less culpable, but their developmental stage needs to be considered.

A lot more information about the report can be found at this Northwestern Law School webpage.  The executive summary from the report is available at this link, and the full report is available here.