Young people in the U.S. who are involved in serious crimes can get a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. In Illinois, 103 people are serving that sentence for crimes they committed when they were younger than 18. This morning, a group of advocates is releasing a report on the impact of such sentences.

The report comes from the Illinois Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Children. The ACLU’s a member, so are law school clinics and some firms.
The group says sentencing a child to life without parole is unfair treatment.  For one thing, children’s brains are different than adults; they are more capable of change. For another, most Illinois inmates who got life without parole as kids are minorities. Also, researchers found judges sometimes don’t have a choice when handing out the life sentence without parole.

So a major recommendation is that Illinois abolish the sentence, and allow parole hearings in some cases.

Meantime, group that advocates for victim’s rights in Illinois says the Fair Sentencing report doesn’t take into account the opinions and experiences of victims’ families.