FOR YOUTH, A WEEK OF A JUSTICE SUPREME

With little fanfare, from both the nation’s highest court and the country’s chief executive, this week saw a quiet revolution for youth justice, recognizing what we all know to be true: kids are not adults.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life without parole sentences for youth were unconstitutional. On Monday, the nation’s highest court made it explicit: the decision will be applied retroactively.

Nearly 500 incarcerated people in Pennsylvania, including roughly 300 cases from Philadelphia, are currently serving out life sentences for crimes committed when they were teens.

Some states applied the ruling retroactively in the immediate wake of the 2012 decision, sparking new sentencing and first-time parole hearings, while others, like Louisiana, chose to interpret the decision for cases going forward.  In this week’s Montgomery v. Louisiana ruling, Justice Kennedy wrote, “there is no grandfather clause that permits states to enforce punishments the Constitution forbids.”

President Obama also issued an executive order regarding justice for youth, banning solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons and jails.

Conclusive research has proven the potential for the long-lasting and detrimental effects of trauma caused by solitary confinement, including depression, alienation and the potential for violent behavior.

Youth advocates see the order as a model for state juvenile facilities that currently hold in access of 50,000 youths across the country.

And thus, slowly, but surely, the U.S. codifies protections for justice involved youth, informed by the fact that, as the Bench concluded, “[children have] diminished culpability and greater prospects for reform”

We know if we don’t meet the developmental needs of our children by rebuilding strong public schools and providing quality pre-k, their prospects for success in life diminish, just as we know if we don’t provide special attention to troubled kids, we will keep sending them to jail.

Research shows that participation in high quality early childhood programs reduces the number of children who end up arrested or incarcerated.

It’s the difference between responding to need and reacting to crisis.

Congratulations to the Juvenile Law Center for their vital leadership nationally and in Pennsylvania. Find out more about the JLC:  www.jlc.org
Read JLC coverage on the Supreme Court ruling on mandatory life sentences for youth.
Read JLC coverage of President Obama’s Executive Order banning solitary confinement for youth.