Convening culminates five years of successful work

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Dear Friends,
We are thrilled to share this final issue of our newsletter in 2014, which focuses on our National Convening and provides some updates on recent activity in the courts and legislatures. The Convening, which was held last month, brought together more than 100 advocates, litigators, formerly incarcerated youth, family members both of people serving life without parole for crimes committed as youth and those who died as a result of violence, policymakers, our national partners, and others under one roof to strategize and strengthen our movement.
The Convening marked the culmination of our fifth year as an organization, leading steady progress in the movement to end life-in-prison sentences for our children. Together, we celebrated our successes and reflected on all we have learned. We shared best practices, established new alliances, met with federal policymakers, and strategized about innovative approaches to reform as we move forward.
Significantly, just weeks after our gathering, on December 12th, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in Toca v. Lousiana, which will directly address the question of whether Miller v.Alabama–the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision that banned mandatory life-without-parole sentences for children–should apply retroactively. In the coming months, we will be working closely with partners across the nation to convince the Court that every individual automatically sentenced to life without parole as a child should receive a second chance, regardless of the date or location of his or her conviction.
Ultimately, of course, we want to ensure that all those sentenced to die in prison as children–whether through mandatory sentences or not–are given regular, meaningful chances to demonstrate whether they deserve release. Our goal is to continue to move our country away from these extreme sentencing practices that disproportionately impact poor children and children of color to a system that is rooted in fairness and focused on children’s capacity to grow and change. There is more work ahead to reach this goal, and momentum is on our side. Thank you for your support this year and we look forward to partnering with you in 2015!

Onward!

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Jody Kent Lavy

Letters to a Lifer tells of change that came from knowing a person serving JLWOP

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In Letters to a Lifer, Cindy Sanford of Pennsylvania writes about how she went from “tough on crime” to believing that children–even those convicted of serious crimes–can change and be rehabilitated.

Sanford, who describes herself as politically conservative, has been around law enforcement her entire life. Her grandfather was a New York City police officer and her husband recently retired after a career in law enforcement. She believed in the adage “if you do the crime, you do the time.”

That changed when Cindy, a registered nurse who also owned an art gallery, got to know a young man serving life without parole for a crime committed as a teen. Their first interaction came when someone brought in some of the young man’s artwork. The paintings on leaves were unlike anything Cindy had seen before–and they sold out quickly. Cindy ultimately reached out to him for more artwork and, over time, developed a relationship. After a long correspondence and several visits with him, Cindy and her husband, Keith, came to love Ken and now consider him another son. He considers them his parents and uses their last name, calling himself Ken Sanford.

Letters to a Lifer is a collaboration between Cindy and Ken. Cindy tells of her personal growth around transformation and Ken writes about his maturation in prison.

Read more about the book

Watch a video about the book

U.S. Supreme Court allows Illinois ruling that held Miller retroactive to stand

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The U.S. Supreme Court on December 1 let stand the Illinois Supreme Court’s ruling in People v. Davis, which found that Miller v. Alabama applies retroactively. This means that approximately 80 people given mandatory sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole as children in Illinois will be immediately eligible for resentencing.

The state’s highest court found that a child cannot be sentenced to life without parole unless the sentencing includes an established process for considering the child’s age and other characteristics of youthfulness, such as mental development. The court ruled that Miller applies to everyone serving the sentence, regardless of when their sentence was given.

Miller found on June 25, 2012 that it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment to impose an automatic sentence of life without parole for a crime committed by a person younger than 18. Illinois is one of nine states whose highest courts have ruled that Miller applies retroactively to everyone serving the sentence. Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas, Nebraska and Wyoming are the other states. Four states – Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania — have ruled that Miller does not apply retroactively. Our hope is that the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually take up the issue of retroactivity and ensure that Miller is applied to ALL those currently serving mandatory life without parole for crimes committed as children. Where a child was sentenced should not determine whether he or she will die in prison.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined the case shortly after another positive development on this issue. The United Nations Committee Against Torture recently called for the U.S. to end the practice of sentencing children to life in prison without parole, regardless of the crime. The Committee also called for opportunities for people serving life without parole for crimes committed as children to “have their cases reviewed by a court for reassessment and resentencing, to restore parole eligibility and for a possible reduction of sentence.” The United States remains the only country in the world known to sentence children to life in prison without parole. Together, we will end this deplorable practice and ensure all children are given hope of release!

Read an amicus brief filed by formerly incarcerated youth, including Xavier McElrath-Bey, who now is youth justice advocate at the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth.

South Carolina holds Miller retroactive

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South Carolina has become the ninth state to determine that the Miller v. Alabama decision should be applied retroactively.

The ruling by the South Carolina Supreme Court means that dozens of people who were sentenced as children to life without parole will now have an opportunity for review. The ruling applies to people whose sentences were mandatory as well as those in which a judge had discretion in giving the sentence.

In addition, state high courts in Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Texas, Illinois, Nebraska and Wyoming have ruled that Miller applies retroactively. Four states have ruled that Miller is not retroactive.

Read the ruling in Aikens, et al v. Byars
Read a news story: South Carolina’s high court orders new sentences for some juveniles convicted of homicide

Healing & Hope 2014

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Healing Hope website image 9.15.14

 Join us at Healing & Hope, our annual awards reception Wednesday, November 12, 2014, in Washington, DC.

Sponsorships & tickets available here

Healing & Hope is the annual CFSY awards reception and fundraiser, which will be held this year at Jones Day. It is always an evening of inspiration!

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Click here for tickets and sponsorships. See you on November 12th!

Sponsors
Crusaders
David & Resa Eppler

Defenders
DLA Piper
King & Spalding LLP
Wendy Smith & Barry Meyer

Champions
Baker & McKenzie LLP
Gregory Craig
Marcia Smith & Ken Andrichik
Susan Galbraith & David Lipton

Supporters
Maya Ajmera & David H. Hollander, Jr.
Bingham McCutchen LLP
Boy Scouts of America
Crowell & Moring LLP
John & Debbie Dillon
Hogan Lovells LLP
David Frederick & Sophia Lynn
K&L Gates LLP
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Dan and Kathi Knise
Tamera Luzzatto & David Leiter
Angus Macbeth
Catherine & Scott Marquardt
Steve & Patricia Morgan
Christine & Michael Puzo
Sidley Austin LLP
Spitfire Strategies
Steve Reiss
John Siffert & Goldie Alfasi-Siffert
Joshua Toll

Friends
ACLU of Michigan
Campaign for Youth Justice
Center for Children’s Law and Policy
Coalition for Juvenile Justice
Jenny Collier
Creed & Gowdy
Haley Griffin
The Innocence Project
Jesuit Conference
Justice Policy Institute
Law Offices of Deborah LaBelle
Uri & Maria Lavy
Charles Mills
Karen & Fritz Mulhauser
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Juvenile Defender Center
National Juvenile Justice Network
National Legal Aid & Defender Association
RFK Center for Justice & Human Rights
Ginny Sloan
William Treanor
UMC General Board of Church & Society

Host Committee
Rick Allen
Adam Blank
Rachel Bloomekatz
Jenny Collier
Debbie Dillon
John Dillon
David Eppler
Angelyn Frazer
Susan Galbraith
Haley Griffin
Mary Lou Hartman
John Kabealo
Kathi Knise
Duke McCall
Rebecca Milliken
Karen Mulhauser
Francesca Purcell
Sara Silverstein
Marcia Smith
Joshua Toll
Jason Ziedenberg

New Nonprofit Will Aid Children in Adult Prisons

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By Shafaq Hasan

October 23, 2014

According to the Equal Justice Initiative, nearly 10,000 children across the country have been sentenced as adults and are serving time in adult prisons. Pennsylvania, which has the highest number of incarcerated children serving life sentences and no minimum age to try a child as an adult, is now also home to the Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project (YSRP), a new nonprofit dedicated to aiding Philadelphia’s children who have been prosecuted and are carrying out their sentences in the adult criminal justice system. The nonprofit was founded over the summer and has been steadily gaining traction and support over the last few months.

Founded by attorneys Lauren Fine and Joanna Visser Adjoian, the nonprofit’s aim is to change the criminal justice system’s approach to sentencing children through equipping their defense attorneys with the support they need at the trial and sentencing phase, specifically research surrounding child brain development and applicable Supreme Court precedents, according to their article in the Legal Intelligencer.

Read more

Pope Francis, Criminal-Justice Reformer?

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By Jesse Wegman

October 24, 2014

Pope Francis continues to speak out on issues that have long scared off even the bravest American politicians.

In a remarkable speech before international penal-law representatives on Oct. 23, the leader of the Catholic Church called for an end to the excesses of criminal punishment, or what he termed “penal populism,” according to a report by the Catholic News Service.

A central error of modern societies, he said, is the belief that “most varied social problems can be resolved through public punishment.”The pope reiterated the church’s longstanding opposition to the death penalty, but he went further, calling for the abolition of life without parole, which he referred to as “the hidden death penalty.”

He connected these sentences with the importance of ensuring better prison conditions “out of respect for the human dignity of persons deprived of their liberty” — a sentiment that would be unimaginable coming from any major American political figure, with the periodic exception of outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder.

Read more

How One Community Saved Its Troubled Youth

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By Rev. Ruben Austria

October 21, 2014

What would happen if community stakeholders in U.S. urban neighborhoods plagued by the highest rates of youth crime and incarceration were given the opportunity to intervene early— and often— on behalf of young people caught up in the juvenile justice system?

One answer to that question has now been provided in New York’s South Bronx neighborhood, where Community Connections for Youth (CCFY), a local non-profit organization, received a $1.1 million grant three years ago from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DJCS), under the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA).

Read more

Solitary Confinement to End for Youngest at Rikers Island

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By Michael Schwirtz

September 28, 2014

Although experts have spoken for years about the devastating effects of solitary confinement on the mental health of adolescent prisoners, such seclusion has long been the primary form of punishment at the Rikers Island jail complex, where inmates as young as 16 can spend days, weeks and sometimes months locked in a cell for over 23 hours a day.

Now, amid increasingly vocal calls to improve conditions at Rikers, the New York City Correction Department has decided to eliminate solitary confinement for 16- and 17-year-old inmates by the end of the year.

Read more

 

20 Years Later, Parts Of Major Crime Bill Viewed As Terrible Mistake

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By Carrie Johnson

September 12, 2014

Twenty years ago this week, in 1994, then-President Bill Clinton signed a crime bill. It was, in effect, a long-term experiment in various ways to fight crime.

The measure paid to put more cops on the beat, trained police and lawyers to investigate domestic violence, imposed tougher prison sentences and provided money for extra prisons.

Clinton described his motivation to pass the 1994 Violent Crime Control Act in stark terms.

“Gangs and drugs have taken over our streets and undermined our schools,” he said. “Every day, we read about somebody else who has literally gotten away with murder.”

And if Clinton and Congress reflected the punitive mindset of the American people, what they didn’t know was that soaring murder rates and violent crime had already begun what would become a long downward turn, according to criminologists and policymakers.

Nicholas Turner is president of the Vera Institute, a nonprofit that researches crime policy. Turner took a minute this week to consider the tough-on-crime rhetoric of the 1990s.

“Criminal justice policy was very much driven by public sentiment and a political instinct to appeal to the more negative punitive elements of public sentiment rather than to be driven by the facts,” he said.

And that public sentiment called for filling up the nation’s prisons, a key part of the 1994 crime bill.

These days, Jeremy Travis is president of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. But 20 years ago, he attended the signing ceremony for the crime bill — and joined the Clinton Justice Department.

“Here’s the federal government coming in and saying we’ll give you money if you punish people more severely, and 28 states and the District of Columbia followed the money and enacted stricter sentencing laws for violent offenses,” Travis says.

But as Travis now knows all too well, there’s a problem with that idea. Researchers including a National Academy of Sciences panel he led have since found only a modest relationship between incarceration and lower crime rates.

“We now know with the fullness of time that we made some terrible mistakes,” Travis said. “And those mistakes were to ramp up the use of prison. And that big mistake is the one that we now, 20 years later, come to grips with. We have to look in the mirror and say, ‘look what we have done.'”

Read more and listen to the story