This week,
the Supreme Court announced it will deliberate whether life sentences for
juveniles convicted of non-homicidal crimes constitutes cruel and unusual
punishment, thus violating the eighth amendment.
The case arises from a
highly publicized case of a 13 year old who was sentenced to life without
parole 20 years ago. The now-33 year old’s lawyer claims that his client’s
sentence should be amended according to the 2005 Supreme Court ruling in Roper
v. Simmons that “juveniles cannot be executed for murders they commit”. The
Washington Post reports that his lawyer argues that, “his client's sentence is
no different from the punishment the court found unconstitutional.” He says,
"They are both effectively death sentences," Stevenson said in an
interview. "One is death by execution, and the other is death by
incarceration, but they are both terminal sentences."
Also this week, the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court announced it would dismiss thousands of convictions
for juveniles that had been ordered by a judge who was proven corrupt. The New
York Times reports that Judge Mark Ciavarella, “is
charged with accepting millions of dollars in kickbacks to send youths to
private detention centers.” Apparently, “Children routinely appeared in front of Ciavarella without
lawyers for hearings that lasted only a few minutes. Ciavarella also failed to
question young defendants to make sure they fully understood the consequences
of waiving counsel and pleading guilty, showing ''complete disregard for the
constitutional rights of the juveniles,'' the Supreme Court said.
The PA Supreme Court ruling
is an important one, but the unjust and excessive detention of juveniles is
systemic. This week Congress took a step forward in addressing the underlying
causes that lead to juvenile. HR 1064, the Youth PROMISE Act, “creates
proactive prevention strategies for dealing with the complex problem of youth
crime, ensuring that our children are not simply funneled into juvenile and
adult criminal justice systems,” according to Jennifer Bellamy, American Civil
Liberties Union Legislative Counsel. This bill has left the Crime subcommittee
and will head to the House Judiciary Committee before a floor vote can occur.
These cases reflect the
importance of ensuring constitutional rights for juveniles institutionally,
through Congress and the Courts. As Justice Kennedy wrote in the 2005 Roper v.
Simmons decision, “it would be misguided to equate the failings of a minor with
those of an adult, for a greater possibility exists that a minor's character
deficiencies will be reformed." Read more about the ACLU’s Criminal
Justice program for juveniles here, and take some time to read some facts about
juvenile life without parole sentencing. This page also includes a
state-by-state breakdown of juvenile sentencing.