Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Boston Criminal lawyer Blog

Criminal Law

: Boston Criminal lawyer Blog

More than 2,000 US Inmates Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole Committed Their Crimes When They Were Minors

By Altman & Altman

According to Equal Justice Initiative, there are more than 2,000 prisoners serving life sentences without parole for crimes that they committed when they were younger than 18. At least 73 of these offenders were just 13 or 14 at the time. The US Department of Justice says that the trend of giving minors life prison sentences began in the 1990?s when there was a dramatic increase in homicides committed by juveniles. The nationwide crackdown also resulted in certain minors being tried in adult courts. Now, Oregon, Alaska, New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas are the only US states where a minor can?t be sentenced to life without parole. 19 US states allow children younger than 14 to be sentenced to the same terms. Pennsylvania has almost 500 prisoners that committed crimes when they were minors and who are now serving life terms without parole...continue to full post

Full post as published by Boston Criminal lawyer Blog on April 09, 2009 (boomark / email).