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NY Times: States Should Rethink Juvenile Life Without Parole

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: Crime & Justice News

"The U.S. leads the world in the number of people it

has locked up for life without parole for crimes

committed by juveniles, says a New York Times

editorial. Juvenile crime should not be taken lightly,

but young people should not be completely written off,

the paper says. Sentencing juveniles to life without

parole is at odds with international law; the vast

majority of the world's countries ban the practice.

Juveniles' brain development differs from that of

adults, making them less able than older people to

resist impulses.

As many as 38 states sentence minors to life without

the chance of parole. Pennsylvania is the worst

offender. There, between 360 and 433 inmates have

no hope of releasee because of crimes they

committed between the ages of 13 and 18. The nation

now has more than 2 million people behind bars.

Locking up juveniles for life without parole is unfair

and a poor use of criminal justice resources, says the

Times, concluding that states 'should rethink this

misguided policy.'"

New York Times - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0010jZAlY2dl4HejpN08hph-fqbzvOIDQcvqBprOo2otBeMmyIMHmDFL33GL4t0XVY_Z8ZMRH0lSDMQgAoGCcHwQmG6ozTe6_Wh3riIDy4qqbrYHmuc8UOlH09GQSbx8C-SrZGg54SZLu36uACy01VmRX-8lYjWO6K3mV6c2znT0SCcfsgmJzp4JlOkKeBUY1xncmvUrOsJwq_5jBuAd3ol2g==

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on February 06, 2008 (boomark / email).