Cruel and Unusual Punishment - by Stephen Lendman
America is the only country sentencing juveniles to life without parole.
The Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment." The legal dictionary defines it as:
"any cruel and degrading punishment not known to the Common Law, or any fine, penalty, confinement, or treatment that is so disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community."
Sentencing minors to life without parole qualifies. The ACLU says American children as young as 13 "are sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison without any opportunity for release." In fact, some as young as 11 are affected.
Around 2,570 are sentenced to juvenile life without parole (JLWOP). America treats them like adults regardless of age or circumstances.
In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled in Roper V. Simmons that sentencing juveniles to death was cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.
In 2010, the ACLU and its Michigan affiliate sued (in Hill v. Synder) on behalf of nine Michigan inmates sentenced to life without parole while minors. They argued that doing so constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. It also violates international law prohibiting JLWOP. On July 15, 2011, the judge allowed the case to proceed.
On May 17, 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in Graham v. Florida that juvenile offenders can't be sentenced to life without parole for non-homicide offenses committed before age 18. Although the Court held states needn't guarantee eventual release, they must provide a realistic chance.
Calling the practice "cruel and unusual" punishment, the decision stated:
"Life in prison without the possibility of parole give no chance for fulfillment outside prison walls, no chance for reconciliation with society, no hope.""A young person who knows that he or she has no chance to leave prison before life's end has little incentive to become a responsible individual."
It also said America "adheres to a sentencing practice rejected the world over."
In December 2006, a UN resolution calling for JLWOP's abolition passed 185 to 1. America alone dissented. Few countries ever adopted it. At least 135 expressly rejected it in domestic laws, and 185 did so in General Assembly votes.
Israel, South Africa and Tanzania once sentenced children to life without parole. They later adopted legislation permitting juvenile parole. Although laws in some countries theoretically allow JLWOP, none use them. America's the world's only offender.
