Juvenile Hall Mass: Reiterating the pope’s call for LWOP review

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By Doris Benavides
June 12, 2014

Chances are that when at the time this article is being read, a child in the underserved areas of Los Angeles (or in any part of the world) is being victimized by some form of abuse, usually by an adult close to him or her, or is being neglected by his or her parents or guardians.

A large percentage of children who have gone through such trauma, if untreated, will be negatively affected. Many may end up in juvenile halls and, in the United States, condemned to die in prison.

Children like this were represented at a June 8 morning Mass at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar. Attired in gray T-shirts and blue slacks, the incarcerated youth listened attentively as restorative justice advocates explained the work being done to make the criminal justice system rehabilitative and restorative, instead of punitive.

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No child is a superpredator

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By Xavier McElrath-Bey
June 5, 2014

I am a superpredator.

At least that is how criminologists would have described me when I was a teenager.

I was sentenced for my role in a first-degree murder when I was 13, just before the superpredator theory came into being.

A handful of criminologists, using apocalyptic language, claimed that kids would be responsible for a dramatic increase in violent crime during the 1990s. Such kids would be impulsive and remorseless. Black and Latino youth would be the center of that explosion in violence, according to the theory.

These predictions and the ensuing media hype fueled fear of young people of color and, with it, “tough on crime” policies that made it easier to try children as adults and sentence them to long prison terms, including life without parole.

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Prison program turns inmates into intellectuals

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By Ginia Bellafante
New York Times
May 30, 2014

Otisville Correctional Facility is a medium-security state prison, 79 miles northwest of Manhattan, on the site of a former tuberculosis sanitarium — with an equalizing element of portent, near the town of Mount Hope. Many of its prisoners are serving life sentences; they are men whom time, as one guard put it “has mellowed out.” Nearby, but unrelated, is the Otisville federal prison, named by Forbes Magazine as one of America’s “cushiest” incarcerators. Observers have likened it to a college, which is not an analogy you would easily draw at the state prison, where inmates rely largely on encyclopedias for the retrieval of information, in volumes that look as if they were last current when the nation was debating the merits of Dan Quayle.

Still, an intellectual firmament has taken hold. On a recent afternoon, 10 men gathered under the tutelage of Baz Dreisinger, a professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, to share some of their writing and to talk about the Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.”

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Something extraordinary is happening at Ironwood State Prison

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By Scott Budnik
June 3, 2014

I know a good movie when I see one, but recently I had a day that was more fascinating, inspiring and compelling than the greatest of films. And every minute of it was real.

Picture driving on a desolate two-lane road, past one low flat building after another, before seeing the tall steel fences and razor wire that signal your destination: a maximum security prison, blazing hot, in the middle of the desert, not far from the border between California and Arizona, an hour past the sunny vacation destination of Palm Springs. After several checks of your identification and passing through multiple sets of sliding steel gates, you’re directed down a long sidewalk with an empty yard on one side and concrete buildings on the other. It’s eerily quiet, though you know 3,280 men live here in a space built for 2,200.

But inside these concrete buildings, something extraordinary is happening. The largest prison education program in California is thriving at Ironwood State Prison, where men are transcribing college textbooks into Braille, learning trade skills and where an astonishing 1200+ students have earned college degrees.

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Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility: innovation, one program at a time

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By Lee Seale, Chief Probation Officer, Sacramento County Probation Department
May 22, 2014

In the last five years, Sacramento County’s juvenile hall in California has undergone a significant culture change, overcoming claims of excessive force and over-reliance on room confinement. With an emphasis on rehabilitation and positive interventions, our juvenile hall now strives to provide specialized programming to better prepare youth to return to their families and reintegrate into society. It has become a national model of innovative practices.

In 2013, the paradigm shift within the juvenile hall culminated in Sacramento County Probation Department receiving the Barbara Allen-Hagen Award from Performance-Based Standards for the second time. The department’s juvenile hall received the award in the short-term detention center category.

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Why are kids being tried in kangaroo courts?

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By Molly Knefel
Rolling Stone
May 14, 2014

Of all the constitutional rights afforded to Americans, the right to counsel is one of the most well known. In movies and TV shows, cops recite Miranda rights immediately upon arresting anyone, informing suspects of their right to an attorney even if they cannot afford one. This protection for indigent defendants was ensured by the Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright in 1963; four years later, another case established due process rights for children. In that case, called In re Gault, the court ruled that “Under our Constitution, the condition of being a boy does not justify a kangaroo court.”

But in juvenile courts across the country, children often face the full weight of the criminal justice system without the protection of a defense attorney. According to a report from the U.S. Attorney General’s office, “Some systems ensure that every child in the system is represented, while others allow 80-90 percent of youth who are charged with offenses to appear without counsel.” Children may be unrepresented for a variety of reasons, including lack of access to a public defender or pressure from judges or prosecutors to waive their constitutional right to an attorney.

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Open Society Foundations award fellowships to 14 criminal justice visionaries

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OpenSocietyFoundations.org
May 14, 2014

The Open Society Foundations today awarded $1.25 million to the newest class of Soros Justice Fellows working on a range of criminal justice issues, from solitary confinement to DNA databases to police misconduct.

“We are proud to support these extraordinary individuals working to curb mass incarceration and develop new approaches to ensure accountability in the justice system,” said Ken Zimmerman, director of U.S. Programs at the Open Society Foundations. “We hope their projects will spur debate, catalyze change, and lift the curtain on a closed system rife with inequities.”

Fellow recipients include the only “juvenile lifer” ever to be pardoned by the governor in Washington State. Her project will develop the leadership skills of young people in detention so they can better advocate for their rights and lead productive lives upon release.

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Two years since Miller v. Alabama

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Both momentum and challenges are evident at the second anniversary of the Miller v. Alabama decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 25, 2012 that mandatory sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional when imposed upon children.

This interactive map shows how states have responded to eliminate or limit these extreme sentences.

Pope responds to children sentenced to life without parole with call for "mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation"

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Pope Francis calls for “mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation” in a response to hundreds of letters sent to him from people serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes committed as children. His letter amplifies the leadership and deepening support from diverse partners in the faith community for age-appropriate alternatives to life in prison without parole for children.

“Their stories and their plea that this form of sentencing be reviewed in the light of justice and possibility of reform and rehabilitation moved me deeply,” he wrote.

In late March, the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth (CFSY) sent letters to people serving these extreme sentences, inviting them to write letters to Pope Francis about their experiences. More than 500 people responded with heartfelt letters.

Many spoke about the hope they felt because of the sheer possibility the Pope might care to read their words. Others wrote about the challenge of remaining inspired and motivated after having been told as children they would die in prison. They shared stories of redemption, remorse and transformation, with the leader of the Catholic Church, who has previously expressed his concern for youth in prison.

“Pope Francis, may I please ask you to speak out against this deplorable US policy to sentence children to die in prison?” wrote one person. “I know through my own experiences that children grow. I have grown. I would not ask you to consider doing this if I knew in my heart my life was not different. I pray that you get to read my letter.”

The response from the Pope is important both to the people who wrote to him and the growing movement to replace life-without-parole sentences for children with age-appropriate alternatives.

“Pope Francis’ letter gives hope to, and acknowledges the humanity of, the approximately 2,500 people who were condemned to die in prison as children,” said Jody Kent Lavy, director and national coordinator of the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. “His message affirms what we stand for—we are all more than our worst mistake and no child should ever be discarded forever.”

The Pope’s letter comes as more states than ever before are grappling with how to hold young people accountable for serious crimes in light of recent Supreme Court decisions scaling back extreme sentences for children, robust bodies of adolescent development research proving the fundamental differences between children and adults, and the debunking of the superpedator theory, which led to the “tough-on-crime” policies that allow our children in the United States alone to be sentenced to life in prison without hope of ever being released.

The letters were all sent to the CFSY. The CFSY forwarded them to Father Michael Kennedy, S.J., executive director of the Jesuit Restorative Justice Initiative. He, along with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, arranged to have the letters sent to Pope Francis just before Easter. The Pope responded in a May 7 letter to Father Kennedy.

“After seeing so many youth struggle to find and maintain hope after receiving the cruel sentence of life without parole, I am inspired by each one of those who still believe that God, with the help of the prophetic words of Pope Francis, will ensure they have a second chance of being home with their families one day,” said Father Kennedy. “It is my hope (or prayer or other suitable word) that the Pope’s words will lead people of faith to do even more to bring about the changes that can lead us to that day.”

Faith communities have played a key role in the effort to replace sentences of life without parole for children with age-appropriate alternatives. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is among the endorsers of the CFSY’s Statement of Principles. Among the other faith-based organizations endorsing the statement are the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, Church of the Brethren Global Partnerships, Buddhist Peace Fellowship and others.

Read other excerpts from letters to Pope Francis

Read the letter from Pope Francis

Florida legislature provides review opportunities for all children

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The Florida Legislature has passed a bill that is expected to significantly limit the state’s practice of sentencing children to die in prison.

Under HB 7035, almost every child who could have previously been sentenced to life without parole  will be given the opportunity to go back before a judge to have his or her sentence reviewed after serving a specified amount of time in prison. The bill will apply to those sentenced on or after July 1, 2014.

In addition, judges will be required to conduct an individualized sentencing hearing to consider circumstances related to the youthfulness of the defendant prior to imposing a life sentence upon a youth. During the hearings, judges must consider a number of factors, including but not limited to the child’s age and maturity, role in the crime, background, and potential for rehabilitation. If a life sentence is imposed, most children will still be eligible for review after 15, 20, or 25 years, depending on the offense. After an individualized sentencing hearing, only youth with prior convictions in adult criminal court can be denied the opportunity for review later in life. HB7035 now goes to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature.

“While the legislature stopped short of completely abolishing its practice of sentencing Florida’s children to life in prison without parole for serious crimes, it took important steps that should ensure most receive a second chance at life,” said Jody Kent Lavy, director & national coordinator at the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. “Florida joins a growing number of states rethinking their policies for holding youth accountable for serious crimes in light of recent Supreme Court decisions and adolescent development research finding that children are fundamentally different from adults. This is in line with a trend in support of reform of policies that fail to account for such differences.”

 

The bill follows rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court which found that children are constitutionally different from adults and should not be subject to our nation’s harshest penalties. The Court ruled in 2010’s Graham v. Florida that it is unconstitutional to sentence children to life in prison without the possibility of parole for non-homicide crimes. In 2012, the Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama that it is unconstitutional to impose a mandatory sentence of life without parole for a crime committed as a child.

“The children in our prisons belong to all of us,” said Angela Williams, who has lost 12 family members to gun violence and is founder and executive director of the West Palm Beach-based Mothers Against Murderers Association.  “By creating a system that will provide an opportunity for children convicted of serious crimes to have their sentences reviewed later in life, we acknowledge that young people can change and be rehabilitated.”

Florida is among the five states that have sentenced two-thirds of the nation’s children serving life without parole. Approximately 195 of the 2,500 youth sentenced to life without parole are incarcerated in Florida.

The coalition of organizations leading the efforts in Florida includes Human Rights Watch, Southern Poverty Law Center, Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Florida Catholic Conference, Paolo Annino and the Florida State University College of Law Public Interest Law Center, and the state’s public defenders.

“The United States has the shameful distinction of being the only country in the world that sentences its youth to life sentences without a chance at parole,” said Natalie Kato, southern US state advocate at Human Rights Watch. “By signing this bill into law, Governor Scott would be helping Florida and the country to come closer to leaving this unjust and disgraceful practice behind.”

The Campaign will continue to work with advocates in Florida to advance future reforms after this initial important step.

The Hawaii Legislature also passed a bill last week to address youth sentencing. Hawaii’s HB 2116 CD1 eliminates life without parole as a sentencing option for all children. The bill has been sent to Gov. Gov. Neil Abercrombie for his signature.

 

Read the bill: http://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2014/7035/Amendment/841792/HTML