A new report released on Thursday by the Sentencing Project, “The Lives of Juvenile Lifers,” presents findings from “the first-ever national survey of this population,” that offers new perspectives on people who exactly committed crimes before the age of 18 (and some as young as 13).
The report comes just weeks before the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the cases of two 14-year olds, Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs, which will examine questions about the constitutionality of sentencing teens to life without the possibility of parole.
More than 2,500 people who were arrested while still minors, are currently serving these LWOP sentences in the United States.
Here’s some of what the report found:
“Most juveniles serving life without parole sentences experienced trauma and neglect long before they engaged in their crimes,” stated Ashley Nellis, research analyst of The Sentencing Project and author of the report. “The findings from this survey do not excuse the crimes committed but they help explain them. With time, rehabilitation and maturity, some of these youth could one day safely re-enter society and contribute positively to their families and their communities.”
The Lives of Juvenile Lifers survey draws a portrait of the severe disadvantage experienced by those serving life sentences without parole:
• Juvenile lifers, especially girls, suffered high rates of abuse—nearly half (46.9%)of lifers experienced physical abuse, including 79.5 % among girls.
• Juvenile lifers were exposed to high levels of violence in their homes (79%) and their communities (54.1%).
• African American youth constitute 43.4% of life without parole sentences for a murder with a white victim, nearly twice the rate at which they are arrested for such crimes, 23.7%.
Failed by systems intended to protect youth, many juveniles sentenced to life without parole first suffer from extreme socioeconomic disadvantage, and are then sentenced to an extreme punishment deemed unacceptable in any other nation….
There’s a lots and lot more so take a look.