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August 9, 2024

"Still Cruel and Unusual: Extreme Sentences for Youth and Emerging Adults"

The title of this post is the title of this new Sentencing Project report authored by Ashley Nellis and Devyn Brown. The short report starts this way:

A wave of reforms since 2010 has changed the trajectory of punishment for young people by substantially limiting the use of juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences. At the sentence’s height of prominence in 2012, more than 2,900 people were serving JLWOP, which provided no avenue for review or release.  Since reforms began, most sentence recipients have at least been afforded a meaningful opportunity for a parole or sentence review. More than 1,000 have come home. 
This progress is remarkable, yet thousands more who have been sentenced to similarly extreme punishments as youth have not been awarded the same opportunity.  Our analysis shows that in 2020, prisons held over 8,600 people sentenced for crimes committed when they were under 18 who were serving either life with the possibility of parole (LWP) or “virtual” life sentences of 50 years or longer.  This brief argues for extending the sentencing relief available in JLWOP cases to those serving other forms of life imprisonment for crimes committed in their youth.
In addition, The Sentencing Project has estimated that nearly two in five people sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) were 25 or younger at the time of their crime.  These emerging adults, too, deserve a meaningful opportunity for a second look because their developmental similarities with younger people reduces their culpability in criminal conduct. The evidence provided in this brief supports bold reforms for youth and emerging adults sentenced to extreme punishments.

August 9, 2024 at 04:15 PM | Permalink

Comments

Are there recidivism data for people who have been released under these changes? Or is it too early for that?

Posted by: William Jockusch | Aug 10, 2024 5:34:31 PM

Good question and instinct, William. Most released JLWOP folks have only been out a few years. However, the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth has this statement concerning your question:

"RECIDIVISM RATES OF FORMER JUVENILE LIFERS ARE EXTREMELY LOW: BETWEEN 0 AND 2%. A study in Louisiana found the recidivism rate of those who were sentenced to juvenile life without parole to be 0% while a study in Pennsylvania found it to be 1.14%. The national recidivism rate is reported to be between 40% and 68%." https://cfsy.org/get-involved/1000-releases/

Posted by: Doug B | Aug 10, 2024 9:27:15 PM

Taking a "back to basics" view of this, what that suggests to me is that some of the purposes of punishment have been met and do not require further incarceration of these people:

1. Punish criminal behavior
2. Protect the public
3. Deter crime
4. Rehabilitate

Of those purposes, numbers 2 and 4 appear to have been satisfied. With the caveat that one obviously needs to continue to monitor recidivism data.

I would argue that in extreme cases, reasons 1 and 3 still justify continued imprisonment. Think Lee Malvo. But it's going to be a small minority of cases. And assuming it continues to hold up, the lack of recidivism is probably your strongest argument in favor of these changes.

Posted by: William Jockusch | Aug 11, 2024 7:21:56 AM

I’d love to see a link to that “study,” Doug.

The good news is this. We can put aside the worn out theory that putting people in prison makes them worse criminals! After all if as few as “0%” of former juvie LWOP sentenced people are recidivists, prison must have been good for them.

Posted by: TarlsQtr | Aug 13, 2024 3:21:41 AM

Tarls, I am not sure what LA study being cited by CFSY, but it might be drawn from this work a decade ago: "Fact Sheet: Recidivism in the State of Louisiana: An Analysis of 3- and 5- year Recidivism Rates Among Long – Serving Inmates" https://www.lsu.edu/hss/sociology/research/CAPER/CAPER_Fact_Sheets/FS13.pdf

I am pretty sure the study being referenced from PA was from 2020: "New Study Finds 1% Recidivism Rate Among Released Philly Juvenile Lifers: Research from Montclair State University faculty shows that people age out of crime" https://www.montclair.edu/newscenter/2020/04/30/new-study-finds-1-recidivism-rate-among-released-philly-juvenile-lifers/

As I was looking for these references, I found a newer study with more recent data: "Life after life: Recidivism among individuals formerly sentenced to mandatory juvenile life without parole" https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jora.12989?af=R. Here is a key data point from its abstract: "we present recidivism data from a sample of individuals formerly sentenced to JLWOP in Pennsylvania who were resentenced and released under Miller and Montgomery (N = 287). Results indicate that 15 individuals received new criminal charges up to 7 years postrelease (5.2%), the majority of which were nonviolent offenses."

Posted by: Doug B | Aug 13, 2024 8:27:10 AM

TarlsQtr wrote:
> The good news is this. We can put aside the worn out theory that
> putting people in prison makes them worse criminals! After all if
> as few as 0% of former juvie LWOP sentenced people are recidivists,
> prison must have been good for them.

Before concluding that, I'd want to know two other numbers: What
proportion of them committed suicide? And what proportion of them
were killed by their would-be victims?

Collateral consequences make life much more difficult for ex-convicts,
especially employment, housing, and education. I'm fortunate than
when I was released from prison 45 years ago I had enormous support
from my parents, my friends, and from the crime victim, all of whom
knew I was innocent.

If I hadn't had such support, life would have been all but impossible.
I'd have had the choice of:

* Living on the street, eating out of dumpsters.

* Turning to a life of crime, victimizing innocent people. I don't
think I would have made that choice no matter what.

* Turning to a life of crime, victimizing those responsible for my
wrongful conviction. That probably would have gotten me quickly
killed, since those are powerful people.

* Committing suicide.

Or were the released lifers given a realistic route back to a normal
life? It's hard for me to imagine the state providing such a path,
rather than a hindrance, but I've certainly heard that claim.

Posted by: Keith Lynch | Aug 13, 2024 10:41:50 AM

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