by Mike Farrell
For a people that claims to treasure children, Americans have an odd way of showing it. The sharp line between people of faith who oppose abortion and those who believe it sometimes necessary is seen by many as the primary moral argument in the United States today. But the vitriolic tone of this often screeching debate leads one to wonder why such passion doesn’t extend its embrace to children once born.
by Eileen McNamara
WHAT IF PHOEBE PRINCE had brought a knife to school? What if she had turned her despair on a classmate instead of on herself? What if the 15-year-old had not killed herself but had stabbed to death a girl she had never met in a school bathroom?
We wouldn’t be talking about anti-bullying laws and mean girls. We would be talking about school security and about life in prison without parole. We would be talking about John Odgren.
By Bill DiMascio
The Pennsylvania Bar Association has issued a call for lawmakers to end the practice of mandating life without possibility of parole sentences for offenses committed by juveniles. If enacted by the legislature, Pennsylvania would join just about all other political jurisdictions of the world in banning the practice.
by Mark Hansen
A group of test subjects ages 10 to 30 is asked to solve a puzzle. It involves re arranging a stack of colored balls on placeholders using as few moves as possible. Each wrong move requires extra moves to undo it.
The test is designed to measure impulse control. Adolescents tend to start moving balls almost immediately, which usually necessitates rearranging later. Adults, however, tend to take more time to consider their first move, which generally allows them to solve the puzzle on their first try.
By Barry Krisberg
America’s foremost legal philosopher, Roscoe Pound (1870-1964), once observed that the American juvenile court was the greatest step forward in Anglo-American law since the Magna Carta. He was referring to an ideal of justice that was individualized, compassionate and infused with the value of human redemption. This was the vision of Jane Addams, Judge Ben Lindsey and the youth advocates who lobbied to create the juvenile court in Illinois and Colorado in 1899.
Sadly, this ennobling model of justice has been honored more in the breach than in reality.
by Doris Benavides
“Finally God, some people are listening to our prayers. Please help us to get a second chance.”
That was the prayer of a 15-year-old serving a sentence on life without parole at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar when he was notified about the recent Supreme Court decision to end the lifelong sentence for juveniles.
By Dwayne Betts
Almost a year to the date I wrote about this JLWOP (juvenile life without parole) here, while guest posting for TNC. This was around the time when the Supreme Court was deciding to take a look at Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida. On May 17, 2010 the SCOTUS decided that it is unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile who has committed a non-homicide offense to life without the possibility of parole. You can read the 80 page decision here. As far as decisions go it’s pretty interesting.
By Linda L. White
One of the two 15-year-old boys who killed my 26-year-old daughter Cathy was released from prison last month after serving 23 years of a 54-year sentence. Gary Brown was released from prison one week before the Supreme Court decided in Graham v. Florida to end the practice of sentencing juveniles to life without parole for crimes other than murder.
Until November of 1986, I was not very knowledgeable about or interested in criminal or juvenile justice matters. I spent most of 1987 in limbo awaiting the trials of Gary Brown and his co-defendant. All I knew about them was that they were certified to stand trial as adults and had long criminal records as juveniles. At the time they seemed to be non-persons. It would take years for me to get over my indifference toward them, to eventually discover their humanity.
PBS Need to Know
The Supreme Court ruled last month that juveniles can no longer be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for non-homicide crimes. Need to Know looks at the case of Joe Sullivan, who was convicted to life in jail at the age of 13.
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