Many Juveniles Still Illegally Sentenced to Life Without Parole

Published on Thursday, June 26, 2014 by Common Dreams

Many Juveniles Still Illegally Sentenced to Life Without Parole

Black youth most often receive longer terms

- Nadia Prupis, staff writer

Only 13 out of 28 states have complied with a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling to abolish mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles, a report released this week by the Sentencing Project finds.

A majority of states have done nothing to pursue statutory reform, while others use loopholes to continue sentencing minors to long-term punishments, the report says. Overall, a total of 44 states still have the option to sentence people to life in prison for crimes they committed as children.

These excessively heavy prison terms are also a complicated factor in a racially disparate judicial system; according to the Burns Institute for Juvenile Justice Fairness and Equity, a disproportionate amount of black, Native American, and Hispanic youth face higher chances of incarceration as white youth.

Josh Rovner, who authored the SP report, notes national data showing that black minors are five times more likely than white minors to be arrested for curfew violations — a statistic that does not accurately reflect rates of crimes being committed across those same racial lines.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/06/26-9