News Archive

Don’t let those who oppose be the only ones that Assembly Members hear from about SB 399.  You can take one important step right now towards future success of fair sentencing for youth:  Let those Assembly Members who voted yes know you appreciate their leadership. Tell those who did not vote for the bill that you expect different vote the next time. Go to the “Take Action” page for instructions.

The California State Assembly defeated SB 399, just two votes shy of what was needed for passage. There’s no question that our coalition is deeply disappointed that California failed to stop this human rights violation. Nevertheless, it is clear that while we were working for this bill, something else happened. Perspectives have changed, and there is support building for changing how California treats young people. Literally thousands of individuals called and wrote letters in support of SB 399. Hundreds of people met with their representatives. A diverse collection of over 100 organizations supported the bill, while dozens of churches and other groups held events to push for its passage. We’re looking forward to the next steps, and hope you will join us. Right now, please go to the “Take Action” page and see what you can do.

On Tuesday, the Assembly took a first vote on SB 399.  It did not pass. On Wednesday August 25th, we hope that there will be a new vote on the bill. Click “more” to see how your rep voted.  There is still time to tell your representatives what you think.  Did he or she vote yes? Call and say thank you, or write a thank you note. Did he or she not vote? Call Wednesday before 10:00 and urge a yes vote. If your representative voted no, let him or her know what you think.

Senate Bill 399 is scheduled to be voted on by the State Assembly on Tuesday, August 24th at 1:30p.m.

Senate Bill 399 was not voted on this last week, and is now set for an Assembly vote on Monday.  Please call your Assembly Members through Monday at 1:00p.m.!

SB 399 is likely to go for a vote before the State Assembly this Thursday, August 19th. The vote is very close! Click on the “TAKE ACTION” box to see what you can do.  Call your Assembly Member now.

On August 9th and 10th, families of youth sentenced to extreme prison sentences, youth, and supporters will gather in Sacramento. For more information, call (310)477-5540.

On June 30th The Fair Sentencing for Youth Act passed out of the California State Assembly Appropriations Committee. The next vote, likely to take place in August, will be of the full Assembly.  There, 41 of 80 Members must cast a “yes” vote for the bill to pass.  Supporters should contact their Assembly Members and urge them to vote yes.

On Wednesday, June 30th at 9:00a.m., SB399 will be heard by the Assembly Appropriations Committee at the State Capitol Building.  If passed there, the bill will move to the Assembly for a full vote.   Call Appropriations Committee members and urge them to vote yes. A list of members with phone numbers can be found here: http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/newcomframeset.asp?committee=43

In a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court in Graham v. Florida ruled that sentences of  life without parole for juveniles who did not commit homicide are  unconstitutional. The case reaffirmed a high court decision that youth are less culpable than adults, and thus less deserving of the most serious forms of punishment. The court also noted that life without parole is an especially harsh punishment for a juvenile, and that there was a “global consensus” against such sentences.

Of the over 2,500 juvenile life-without-parole cases in the US, approximately 129 involve juveniles who were not convicted of murder. The Supreme Court decision leaves the fate of the remaining juvenile life-without-parole cases in the hands of state lawmakers. In California, only four of the approximately 265 such cases did  not involve homicide, Human Rights Watch said. Without state action, the other approximately 261 individuals serving these sentences will remain in prison until death.

“The Supreme Court decision highlights the need for the California state legislature to take action,” said Elizabeth Calvin, senior children’s rights advocate at Human Rights Watch. “Without leadership from Sacramento, California will continue to throw away the lives of young people.”

The bill before the assembly, the Fair Sentencing for Youth Act (Senate Bill 399), passed the California Senate in June 2009. It would provide the possibility of parole for juvenile offenders in some cases after 25 years in prison.

Groups as diverse as the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the California Psychiatric Association, and the California Catholic Conference of Bishops support the bill.

“In this time of fiscal crisis, a $40,000 or $50,000-a-year prison bed is a precious resource,” Heidi Rummel, former prosecutor and professor of criminal law at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law, told Human Rights Watch. “This bill requires California to stop wasting money imprisoning youth offenders who have become rehabilitated adults.”

Family members of some crime victims also support the bill. Aqeela Sherrills’ eldest son, Terrel, was 19-years-old and in college when he was shot and killed by a 17-year-old gang member. Sherrills believes that even his son’s killer deserves a chance to change, and opposes the sentence of life without parole for teenagers.

“It’s crucial we give children a second chance and the opportunity to change,” he told Human Rights Watch.

“The sentence of life without parole is a sentence to die in prison,” Javier Stauring, co-director of the Office of Restorative Justice of the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese, told Human Rights Watch. “Many of these young people would grab the opportunity to work toward rehabilitation and prove that the terrible mistakes they have made do not define who they become.”

Other states have similar legislation pending, including Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, and Nebraska.

Human Rights Watch investigated California’s use of life sentences without parole for persons who were under age 18 at the time the crime was committed and published its findings in the 2008 report, “When I Die, They’ll Send Me Home.”

California’s use of this sentence for youth is among the most unjust in the nation, the report concluded. An estimated 45 percent of those serving such sentences in California for murder cases were not the killers. Many were convicted of felony murder, or for aiding and abetting the murder, for instance, because they acted as lookouts or were participating in a robbery when a murder took place.

In nearly 70 percent of the California cases examined by Human Rights Watch in which the youth was not acting alone, at least one codefendant was an adult. Survey responses reveal that in 56 percent of those cases, the adult received a less severe sentence than the juvenile.

Human Rights Watch found that, nationally, an estimated 59 percent of those sentenced to life without parole for crimes committed as juveniles were first-time offenders.

International human rights law prohibits sentences of life without parole for those who commit a crime when under age 18, a prohibition that is universally applied outside of the United States. At present, 2,574 persons are serving such sentences in the United States. To Human Rights Watch’s knowledge, not a single person is serving such a sentence anywhere else in the world.

“The United States is the world’s worst human rights violator in terms of sentencing young offenders to life without parole,” Calvin said.

To read the opinion, click here.

For information on California’s bill to review JLWOP cases, SB399, please visit: www.fairsentencingforyouth.org 

For more information, please contact:
In San Francisco, Alison Parker (English): +1-917-535-9796 (mobile); or +1-415-362-3246
In Los Angeles, Elizabeth Calvin (English): +1-310-926-6504 (mobile); or +1-310-477-5540 
In Los Angeles, Heidi Rummel: +1-818-720-2620 (mobile); +1-213-740-2865
In Los Angeles, Javier Stauring: +1-310-920-4216 (mobile); +1-213-438-4820
In Los Angeles, Aqeela Sherrills: +1-323-228-7622 (mobile)

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on juvenile life without parole, please visit:
 

• 2009 State Distribution of Youth Offenders Serving Juvenile Life without Parole (a state-by-state breakdown on numbers of youth serving juvenile sentences of life without parole in the US)
• When I Die, They’ll Send Me Home (a 2008 report on life without parole for juveniles in California)
• Report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (a 2008 report on racial disparities in the imposition of the sentence)
• The Rest of Their Lives: Life Without Parole for Child Offenders in the United States (a 2005 report on juveniles sentenced to life without parole throughout the United States)
• Thrown Away (a 2005 report on life without parole for juveniles in Colorado)