Juvenile Life Without Parole Ruled Unconstitutional

Juvenile Life Without Parole Ruled Unconstitutional

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Juveniles can no longer be sentenced to life without the chance of parole except if they’re involved in a crime where someone is killed.

That’s what the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this morning in the case of Graham versus Florida.

Shaena Fazal is director of the Long-Term Prisoner Policy Project at the watchdog John Howard Association. She says the court reasoned that youth have more potential for change than adults.

FAZAL: Nobody is saying that we have to promise that these kids will get out one day. But there should at least be some opportunity for them to demonstrate that they have changed.

It’s a case that has been closely monitored by juvenile justice advocates in Illinois. The state has 103 people sentenced as juveniles to life without parole. None of those cases is covered by the Supreme Court ruling, however, because they each involved a homicide.