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Read News: Philadelphia's record on juvenile lifers put under scrutiny

By The Sentencing Project

The Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Monday in light of the fact that the Commonwealth leads the nation in the number of juveniles sentenced to life without parole. The panel of those giving testimony included The Sentencing Project’s Research Analyst, Ashley Nellis and, via satellite, two adult men who have been incarcerated since they were 14 years old. Pennsylvania does not allow parole for juveniles convicted of first or second degree murder, nor does it set a minimum age for juveniles to be tried for murder. There are currently 345 inmates serving life sentences who were under 18 when they committed their offense, according to the state corrections department. Nationally, nearly 2,500 lifers are behind bars for offenses committed when they were 17 or younger...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Sentencing Project on September 23, 2008 (boomark / email).