Mandatory life sentences for juveniles at issues before state high court

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By Kim Geiger, Tribune reporter
January 15, 2014

Adolfo Davis was just 14 when he committed the crime that led to the life sentence he’s serving today.

An eighth-grader from a troubled home, he had fallen in with a street gang on Chicago’s South Side and took part in a 1990 robbery in which two men were killed.

Though Davis never fired the gun he wielded, he was convicted in the murders and received a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

More than two decades later, Davis, now 37, is hoping that a 2012 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court could lead the way to his release.

On Wednesday, Illinois’ highest court heard oral arguments in Chicago over whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling — which deemed sentences like Davis’ unconstitutional — should be applied retroactively in Davis’ case. The decision by the Illinois Supreme Court could set a precedent for the estimated 80 other inmates in the state who are serving mandatory life sentences for crimes they committed as juveniles.

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Nebraska holds Miller retroactive

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Nebraska has joined a growing number of states that have decided the Miller v. Alabama decision, which struck down mandatory life without parole sentences for children, should apply retroactively to those who were sentenced prior to June 25, 2012, the date the decision was issued. More than two dozen individuals sentenced to die in prison as children in Nebraska are entitled to new, constitutional sentences.

The Nebraska Supreme Court issued the ruling today in State v. Castaneda, State v. Mantich and State v. Ramirez, which ruled unconstitutional the sentences of three Omaha men automatically sentenced as children to life without parole. The Court ordered the cases go back to district court for resentencing.

To date, seven state supreme courts have ruled on Miller retroactivity. Four of those states – Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi and Nebraska — have ruled that Miller should be applied retroactively. In addition, a federal court in Michigan held that Miller is retroactive. The order has been stayed pending appeal. State supreme courts in Louisiana, Minnesota and Pennsylvania have ruled that Miller is not retroactive. Federal circuit courts in the 5th and 11th districts have also ruled that Miller is not retroactive. Cases are currently pending before state supreme courts in Florida, Washington and Illinois.

Read the cases:

State v. Castaneda

State v. Mantich

State v. Ramirez

February 7, 2014

Our view: A chance to be smart on crime

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Roanoke Times Editorial Board
January 13, 2014

The crushingly high cost of imprisonment in the U.S. has even law-and-order hard-liners looking to reverse decades of long mandatory minimum sentences.

Virginia lawmakers should keep the trend in mind in giving an open-minded hearing to legislation that would provide juvenile offenders convicted as adults an avenue to seek a reduction in sentence at age 35 or after serving at least 20 years, whichever is later.

SB 142 would apply only to long sentences for nonhomicidal crimes. Long is defined as at least 25 years. And the opportunity for modification would be a narrow one, as laid out in the proposal by state Sen. David Marsden of Fairfax.

Still, it would offer some hope to people who have matured behind bars that they might have a productive life in society one day.

Might – if their conduct and academic, vocational and emotional development while in prison have been good enough to persuade a panel of jurists they no longer are the same people who were capable of the crimes they committed in their youth.

The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk reports there are at least 22 inmates serving life without parole for nonhomicidal crimes committed as teenagers. In November, the newspaper profiled one: Travion Blount, who at 15 was tried for armed robbery, convicted of 49 felonies and sentenced to six life terms plus 118 years. Two older teens who pleaded guilty received 10- and 13-year sentences.

Blount might be as or even more dangerous in 25 years. But he might be a wholly different and better person. It would be reasonable to allow inmates like him the opportunity to show they have grown into adults worthy of a sentencing review.

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Op-Ed: Growing up behind bars

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By Elizabeth Calvin
Los Angeles Times
January 13, 2014

“It could have been anyone in this courtroom. Your mother. Your lawyer. It could have been me.” The judge drilled down on the random murder of a woman for her car. Edel Gonzalez, a diminutive 38-year-old man, sat shackled in a prison jumpsuit before the bench and nodded in agreement. “It was brutal,” the judge repeated with force.

This was not your typical sentencing hearing. It was a historic moment. As the judge talked to the defendant, whispering in the courtroom stopped. The attorneys didn’t move, and the guard faded back against the wall. This was a conversation between two people: a judge and a man convicted of murder.

But that man was a boy when the murder was committed in 1991. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole. The United States is the only country that imposes life without parole on people under 18, and in California more than 330 such offenders have received this sentence. Edel was 16 at the time of his crime, and in December, he was back in court as the first case under a new California law.

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Stop charging kids as adults

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By Benjamin Jealous and Rosario Dawson
MSNBC
January 8, 2014

Now that the federal courts have spoken on “stop-and-frisk,” many people think teens in our community have less to fear from the criminal justice system.  Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Far worse can happen to a child after being stopped.

In his State of the State address Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said what needed to be said: New York’s juvenile justice laws are outdated.

Every year, almost 50,000 16- and 17-year-olds are prosecuted as adults in New York State, and more than three-quarters of these charges are for misdemeanors like shoplifting and marijuana possession. Some 70% of the children arrested are black or Latino, as well as 80% of those incarcerated.

As Cuomo reminded us, now is the time for a change. The New York State Legislature needs to Raise the Age of criminal responsibility, and they need to do it this year.

Teens are far from perfect, and they certainly are not always innocent. That’s part of growing up. A teen’s brain develops well into his or her 20s, and as cognitive skills improve, so does impulse control. As a result, teens are often unable to focus on the consequences of their behavior.

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After 36 years in prison, this Philadelphian is using his second chance to help others stay out of trouble

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Newsworks.org
January 8, 2014

If you thought you would die behind bars, what would it be like to suddenly be sprung from prison? One Philadelphia man has found surprises and success over the last two years since his life sentence was commuted.

Tyrone Werts is an ex-offender to whom many people point as proof that someone who was sent to prison can come out and use his experiences to become an asset to the city where he lives.

To see Werts on the street now, you would never guess he spent 36 years in prison — let alone that he lived those years in a cell fully expecting to never get out.

Former Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell commuted Werts’ sentence along with those of two others sentenced to life for roles in murders that took place in Philadelphia in the 1970s. Werts was serving life for acting as the getaway driver in the 1975 murder of a man in North Philadelphia. Werts was 24 at the time.

By the time Rendell commuted Werts’ sentence, and he walked free, he was old enough to be the grandfather of the young man who’d walked into prison all those years ago. While behind bars, Werts vowed that he would use his experiences for good if he were ever released. Those who know his story say he has kept his promise.

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Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Gives Hope to Youths Sentenced to Die in Prison

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By Edward Loughran
Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators
January 6, 2014

Three months ago, the Massachusetts State Legislature voted unanimously to raise the age of criminal court jurisdiction from 17 to 18. In an equally dramatic vote on Christmas Eve, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court struck down life sentences without parole for adolescents (Commonwealth v. Brown and Diatchenko v. District Attorney for the Suffolk District).

The state’s highest court followed reasoning similar to that used by the United States Supreme Court on a death penalty case (Roper v. Simmons) and a life without parole case (Miller v. Alabama); they based their decision on current scientific research that lifelong imprisonment for youths is cruel and unusual because their brains are “not fully developed.”

The court also ruled that the Miller v. Alabama decision should be applied retroactively to every person who received an automatic life without parole sentence as a juvenile.  In a story the morning after the high court’s decision, the Boston Globe reported that there are currently 63 inmates in Massachusetts’ prisons who were sentenced as adolescents to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder.

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Just Kids (In Prison for Live)

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By Matt Stroud
Billmoyers.com
December 31, 2013

When Stacey Torrance was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in a Philadelphia courtroom in 1988, the sentence seemed somewhat unusual. First of all, life in prison is typically reserved for perpetrators of violent crime. And while someone had been killed during the chain of events that landed Torrance in front of a judge, Torrance hadn’t planned or participated in the killing. Torrance had agreed to lure Alexander Porter, the brother of a friend, to an older acquaintance who planned to steal Porter’s keys and then burgle the home of Porter’s father. But instead of simply stealing Porter’s keys, the older acquaintance, along with an accomplice Torrance had never met, tied him up and threw him into the trunk of their car. Torrance, too, was tied up — something he had not agreed to. Torrance was then taken to his mother’s home and released. Porter was driven away and eventually killed by Torrance’s older acquaintances, who were later tried for first-degree murder and eventually sentenced to a lifetime in prison.

Secondly, Torrance had never been in trouble with the law before. And a life sentence for a non-violent first offense tends to raise eyebrows — particularly when the offender didn’t pull a trigger.

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Two join campaign staff

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The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth has welcomed two new people to our staff. Caleb Bess is our new program assistant and Jame Dold is our new advocacy director.

As program assistant, Caleb also supports a number of CFSY initiatives. Since starting this position in late September, Caleb has assisted with the planning of the CFSY National Convening, where he had the opportunity to meet a wide network of individuals working to end the practice of sentencing children to life in prison without the possibility of parole.Prior to working with the Campaign, Caleb worked as a Program Coordinator at the Project on Addressing Prison Rape at American University, where he worked to educate inmates and correctional officials about preventing and reporting sexual misconduct in custodial settings. Caleb is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis.

As Advocacy Director, James leads the work of the CFSY advocacy team. Prior to joining the CFSY, James served as senior policy counsel for Polaris Project where he led successful state legislative campaigns that resulted in the passage of 40 new anti-human trafficking laws across the country. While in law school he served as a law clerk at the ACLU of Maryland.James received dual baccalaureates in criminal justice and psychology from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and graduated Cum Laude from the University of Maryland School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in the state of Maryland.

James Dold is now the third James on staff, joining Director of Communications James Ross and Development and Operations Manager James Puzo.

CFSY honors four for their work to end life without parole sentences for youth

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The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth honored two individuals and two organizations for their efforts to end the practice of sentencing children to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The awards were given during the campaign’s annual Healing & Hope Awards Reception.

This year’s honorees were:

Jason Baldwin, one of the three men known as the West Memphis 3. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole as a teenager and spent 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Participant Media, a film production company which collaborated with the CFSY in 2013 to produce several infographics and videos.

WilmerHale, an international law firm that partnered with the CFSY to ensure that people in Virginia serving life without the possibility of parole for crimes committed as children have legal representation.