House hearing on bill to eliminate juve LWOP sentences

As detailed at this page from The Sentencing Project, on Tuesday afternoon the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security will hold an hearing on the "Juvenile Justice Accountability and Improvement Act of 2009," which includes provisions to eliminate life without parole sentences for juvenile offender.

This official House webpage list witnesses scheduled to testify (and may soon provide links to written testimony).  The bill being discussed can be accessed here, and one of its key provisions calls upon each State to "have in effect laws and policies under which each child offender who is serving a life sentence receives, not less than once during the first 15 years of incarceration, and not less than once every 3 years of incarceration thereafter, a meaningful opportunity for parole or other form of supervised release."

I do not think this bill is likely to get too much legislative traction, but it should be interested to see what gets said about juve LWOP while briefing is underway in the two juve LWOP cases, Graham and Sullivan, recently taken up by the Supreme Court (basics here and here).

Other recent posts on juve LWOP and the Graham and Sullivan cases:

• "A Life Term for Rape at 13: Cruel and Unusual?"
• NYTimes coverage of very young lifers
• Does Roper suggest young juve LWOP is unconstitutional?
• Juves serving life terms
• Life without parole for juvenile may be cruel, but it is not unusual
• The next issue in sentencing of juveniles?
• New HRW report assailing juve LWOP in California
• LDF report documents disparities in juve LWOP in Mississippi
• SCOTUS grants cert in Sullivan, juve LWOP case
• The (unpreserved?) procedural issues in Graham juve LWOP case
• What might (and should) DOJ and other potential amici say about Graham and Sullivan?
• Analyzing the cert grants in both Graham and Sullivan