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Children in Adult Prison

Across the United States, thousands of children have been sentenced as adults and sent to adult prisons. Over 2200 juveniles nationwide have been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Children as young as 13 years old have been tried as adults and sentenced to die in prison, typically without any consideration of their age or circumstances of the offense.

Many young children in America are imperiled by abuse, neglect, domestic and community violence, and poverty. Without effective intervention and help, these children suffer, struggle, and fall into despair and hopelessness. Some young teens cannot manage the emotional, social, and psychological challenges of adolescence and eventually engage in destructive and violent behavior. Sadly, many states have ignored the crisis and dysfunction that creates child delinquency and instead have subjected kids to further victimization and abuse in the adult criminal justice system.

For children with parole-eligible sentences, unique release and re-entry challenges too often create insurmountable obstacles to parole and successful re-entry. Young people who have been in prison since they were adolescents need help learning basic life skills.

News

EJI Wins Reversal for Iowa Woman Sentenced to Die in Prison for a Crime at Age 14

February 26, 2010

The Iowa Supreme Court today reversed a lower court judgment which had barred a challenge to the constitutionality of life imprisonment without parole imposed on a child of 14. The court granted review of EJI client Ruthann Veal’s case and today ruled that she is entitled to merits review.

EJI Asks Iowa Supreme Court to Reverse Life-Without-Parole Sentence for Young Teen

January 19, 2010

Bryan Stevenson argued at the Iowa Supreme Court today in Veal v. State that sentencing a 14-year-old child to life imprisonment without possibility of parole violates state and federal constitutional guarantees against cruel and unusual punishment.

EJI Argues Sullivan v. Florida at United States Supreme Court

November 9, 2009

Today EJI argues at the United States Supreme Court on behalf of Petitioner Joe Sullivan in Sullivan v. Florida, which challenges the imposition of life-without-parole sentences on young adolescents.

Sullivan and Graham Cases Challenging Death in Prison Sentences for Children Generate Support

October 30, 2009

Over a dozen national and international organizations representing teachers, scientists, adolescent development experts, physicians, and corrections professionals have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in Sullivan v. Florida and Graham v. Florida, which challenge sentences to life imprisonment without parole imposed on children.

EJI Attorneys Argue Two Cases at Alabama Appellate Court Sessions Hosted by Cumberland School of Law

October 15, 2009


EJI lawyers Bryan Stevenson and Brandon Buskey, seated, argue before the Supreme Court.

On October 8, 2009, the Alabama Supreme Court and the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals heard oral arguments at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, as part of the court system's outreach and education efforts. EJI attorneys were asked by the courts to participate in both oral arguments.

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