Give Kids a Second Chance

Did you know that we have over two thousand people in the United States serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes they committed when they were kids?  

Seventy three of these individuals were 13 or 14 at the time of their crime.  More than a quarter of them were convicted of crimes committed by older companions, without the youth's knowledge or intent.  And, for nearly 60 percent, it was their first-ever criminal conviction.

Children who commit crimes should be appropriately punished.  But what does it say about our society—and us—if we don't give kids a second chance in life?

The imposition of life without parole sentences on minor children is especially cruel in light of recent scientific developments showing that the adolescent brain is not fully formed until well into early adulthood.  Children do not have adult levels of judgment and impulse control, or the ability to assess risks the way fully-developed adults can.

That’s why the U.S. Supreme Court declared death sentences for children unconstitutional.  And it’s also why most other countries don’t lock kids away and throw away the key as if they can never be redeemed.  In fact, sentencing children to life without parole violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international agreement that has been signed by every country in the world—except the United States and Somalia.

Not just inhumane, the sentences are unfairly applied.  The racial disparities we are seeing throughout the criminal justice system are present here, too.  Black children are sentenced to life without parole 10 times more than white youth.  California has the worst racial disparities in the nation: Black youth in California are 22 times more likely to receive this sentence than white youth and Latino kids receive life without parole four times more often than white kids.

Organizations like the Equal Justice Initiative (which provides legal representation to indigent adults and kids who have been denied fair and just treatment in the legal system) have called for the re-sentencing of kids serving life without parole to new parole-eligible terms.  They just published a new report, Cruel and Unusual: Sentencing 13- and 14-Year-Old Children to Die in Prison, documenting this practice and telling the stories of some of the individuals serving these sentences.

Here in California, Senator Leland Yee introduced Senate Bill 999 this year, which would eliminate the sentencing of juveniles to life sentences without any possibility of release on parole.  Instead, the bill provides that minors could be sentenced to up to 25 years to life and be eligible for parole.  The legislation recognizes that children who commit crimes before the age of 18 are different than adults and, while they should be appropriately punished, it is overly harsh to never in their lifetime give them an opportunity to prove they have been rehabilitated. 

SB 999 represents a more humane, sensible, and proportionate sentencing approach.  Child offenders would still face severe punishment for committing serious crimes, but this legislation would offer greater motivation for their rehabilitation since they would be given the opportunity to seek release on parole after serving 25 years.  Let’s give kids a second chance.