The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth (CFSY) has recently released a new report on the alarming imposition of juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences in the United States.
This sentence is becoming increasingly unusual. In the past 12 years, there has been an overall 85% decrease in the population of those serving these sentences, while the number of states banning JLWOP has increased by over 800%. However, twenty-two states still legally allow JLWOP, certain states have increased their incarcerated populations of children serving this sentence. In addition, during these years the percentage of Black children serving juvenile life without parole has risen significantly, from 60% historically to nearly 80% today.
The continued legality of life without parole for youth also further enables the legal system to sentence children to other extremely long terms. For instance, the possibility of JLWOP sentences can be used to bargain for children to accept plea deals, resulting in children receiving lengthy terms of years or de facto life sentences with minimal chance of parole. Furthermore, in a context where JLWOP is an option, sentencing a child to 20 years may be seen as more acceptable, even though this exceeds the maximum sentence for adults in many countries around the world.