Equal Justice Initiative

Today, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal filed by EJI which asks the Court to extend protections for children sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. In Jackson v. Hobbs, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld a death-in-prison sentence imposed on a 14-year-old who was convicted of an unintentional killing where he was not the triggerman. In Miller v. Alabama, an Alabama appeals court upheld a sentence of life imprisonment without parole imposed on a 14-year-old convicted of intentional murder. Both sentences were mandatory and did not permit any consideration of the juvenile’s age or adolescent status.

The United States Supreme Court this week denied the Florida Attorney General's request for review in Ian Manuel's case, upholding the Florida Court of Appeal's decision that juveniles convicted of attempted murder cannot be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

The American Law Institute, an independent organization composed of 4000 prominent judges, lawyers, and legal scholars working to clarify, modernize, and improve the law, has called for banning the use of life imprisonment without parole for juveniles. Its new model code requires consideration of the child's age and reduced sentences for juveniles prosecuted in adult court.

Ronald Evans was sentenced to life in federal prison with no possibility of parole for drug offenses that occurred in Norfolk, Virginia, when he was 17. EJI last week won the right to challenge Ronald's sentence as a violation of the Supreme Court's decision in Graham v. Florida, which bans life-without-parole sentences for juvenile nonhomicide offenders.

Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr., known as the "West Memphis Three," were 18, 16, and 17 years old, respectively, when they were arrested for killing three young boys in Robin Hood Hills, Arkansas, in 1993. Mr. Echols, a self-described Wiccan who wore all black and listened to heavy metal, was convicted and sentenced to death. Mr. Misskelley, a mentally challenged youth from whom police obtained a confession after a 12-hour interrogation, and 16-year-old Jason Baldwin, were sentenced to life imprisonment. All three consistently asserted they were innocent. On August 19, 2011, after new forensic testing showed that DNA evidence at the crime scene did not match any of the three, they appeared in court and continued to maintain their innocence while pleading guilty in exchange for time served.