Letter: SCOTUS Ruling On Life In Prison For Teens Was Wrong

To the Editor:

On Thursday, April 22, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled judges can sentence juveniles convicted of crimes before age 18 to life sentences without parole. The court’s ruling absolved judges from determining if a juvenile offender is beyond rehabilitation before sentencing.

Think about that. Sentenced to life in prison with no opportunity for parole at age 16. No opportunity for freedom for the rest of your life. No opportunity for redemption. No ability to learn, improve, contribute to society to make amends. No consideration of age, maturity, cognitive ability, societal prejudice, economic insecurity, the ability to be rehabilitated or whether the accused was properly represented in court. I realize families of murder victims have to live without their loved ones for the rest of their lives, knowing the person convicted of their murder is still alive. I cannot imagine that pain.

The convicted juvenile in the case before the Court was found guilty of murdering his grandfather after a heated argument. The only defense witness called was the accused. The prosecution contended and convinced the jury it was premeditated murder. What if it wasn’t?
What if the young man, in a fit of rage during the argument, killed his grandfather who may have mentally abused him as he was growing up? It is possible. No witness was called who could testify to that. What if it was manslaughter and not murder? Would the sentence be the same? According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, ‘The Model Penal Code (section 210.3) states that a murder is downgraded to manslaughter when it was "committed under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is reasonable explanation or excuse." If you’ve lived with or know a 16-year old, rational isn’t always the word that comes to mind.

And in the United States, 70% of juveniles sentenced to die in prison are youth of color.

To sentence a young person to live in prison without parole and consider them ‘incorrigible’ or unredeemable is not what the justice system should be about. For young people who, for any number of reasons other than premeditated, make decisions that end with the death of another, there should be the opportunity for redemption. For rehabilitation. For education, knowledge and sense of self-worth. For the opportunity to pay their debt to society, limiting their freedom for a time, but not their humanity forever.

Alternatives to incarceration, programs for rehabilitation and restorative justice are a better way forward.

Joanne Dunn, Executive Director
Youth Shelter of Westchester