By Susan Szalewski
“For State Sen. Brenda Council, it’s common sense: Criminals under the age of 18 should not be sentenced to life in prison without a chance at parole… Studies have shown that a teen’s brain is not fully developed. Youths face pressures from gangs and peers. Imprisoning a person for decades is costly.”
Associated Press
“Ruthann Veal was 14 when she was charged as an adult in the 1993 killing of a retired librarian in Waterloo. A Black Hawk County jury found her guilty two years later, and Veal was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Iowa Supreme Court in February said Veal can challenge her sentence as cruel and unusual punishment and sent the case back to district court.”
By Tamar Birckhead
“Five years ago I sat in a courtroom in Hillsborough, watching a hearing on the defense’s motion to suppress a juvenile’s confession. J.D.B., the 13-year-old boy charged with breaking into neighbors’ homes and taking things, was a special education student. He had been questioned alone in a conference room at his middle school by a uniformed police officer, a police investigator, and the assistant principal.”
Editorial
“Florida leads the nation in sentencing juvenile offenders who have not committed murder to life in prison with no chance of parole. Six months ago the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this practice unconstitutional, but as The Sun’s Tallahassee bureau reports, since that ruling, ‘not a single former juvenile sentenced in such cases has found much relief. Instead, Florida courts, in several high-profile cases are re-sentencing the juveniles to new terms that still amount to life sentences.'”
DETROIT, MI – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Michigan today filed a lawsuit on behalf of nine Michigan citizens who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes committed when they were minors.
By Associated Press
An attorney for a St. Louis teen, sentenced to spend his life in prison after he was convicted of killing police officer Norvelle Brown, argued Wednesday that juveniles should not receive automatic life sentences.
By Steven Elbow
In 1998, Omer Ninham was an abused 14-year-old child of alcoholic parents. He was also a murderer.
After throwing a 13-year-old boy to his death from the top of a hospital parking ramp, Ninham was sentenced to life in prison without parole — essentially condemned to die in prison.
Editorial
MAYBE THEY’RE all “bad seeds.”
Maybe all the Pennsylvania inmates serving life sentences for taking part in murders when they were kids can’t be rehabilitated, no matter how long they have been incarcerated or what they’ve done to better themselves during that time.
By Brian Wellner
A man serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole now will have a chance at parole after a ruling issued by a Scott County District Court judge.
Jason Means, 34, was one of six teenagers convicted in the 1993 death of 17-year-old Michelle Jensen of Davenport. In addition to first-degree kidnapping, he also was convicted of second-degree murder.
By Rene Stutzman
“The US Supreme Court in May declared it unconstitutional for any judge to sentence a defendant under age 18 to life without parole for any crime other than …”
Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth (EIN 27-3761788) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization