Imprisoning Children for Life

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"The death penalty and a life sentence without the possibility of parole are explicitly prohibited in (CRC's) article 37(a)."

The Committee recommended that global nations "abolish all forms of life imprisonment for offences committed by persons under the age of 18" to effectively prohibit courts from trying youths as adults.

Article 7 of the 1976 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) bans cruel, unusual and degrading treatment and punishment. It applies to youth LWOP sentences that also violate Article 10(3) stating:

the "penitentiary system shall (afford) prisoners....their reformation and social rehabilition. Juvenile offenders shall be segregated from adults and be accorded treatment appropriate to their age and legal status."

Under Article 24(1), children have:

"the right to such measures of protection as are required by (their) status as a minor, on the part of (their) family, society and the State."

America is a serial offender. In 1992, it ratified ICCPR, but never complied. "The extraordinary breadth and rapid development in the United States of sentencing child offenders to LWOP since (ICCPR's ratification) contradicts the assertion that the United States has applied this sentence only in exceptional circumstances," given the near 2,400 youths affected, many, in fact, first-offenders, others wrongfully convicted.

The Committee Against Torture, the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment's official oversight body, stated that imprisoning children for life "could constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," and that America has done nothing to deter the practice or reduce the discrimination against children of color.

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