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Media continues to cover juve lifers ... will reforms follow?

By Douglas A. Berman

The Christian Science Monitor has this new article, headlined "States reconsider life behind bars for youth; With nearly 2,400 inmates sentenced to life as juveniles, the U.S. is the only nation imposing the mandate on children."  Here are excerpts:Here in Illinois, proposed legislation would give 103 people ? most convicted of unusually brutal crimes ? a chance at parole hearings, while outlawing the sentence for future young perpetrators. The proposal has victims' families up in arms, angry that killers they had been told were in prison for life might be given a shot at release and that they'd need to regularly attend hearings in the future, reliving old traumas, to try to ensure that these criminals remain behind bars. Advocates of legislation, meanwhile, both in Illinois and elsewhere, note that the US is the only country in the world with anyone ? nearly 2,400 across the nation ? serving such a severe sentence for a crime committed as a juvenile...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 12, 2008 (boomark / email).