Raising the Bars

The Pennsylvania Bar Association has issued a call for lawmakers to end the practice of mandating life without possibility of parole sentences for offenses committed by juveniles.  If enacted by the legislature, Pennsylvania would join just about all other political jurisdictions of the world in banning the practice.

As it is now, the Commonwealth with some 450 prisoners who received this sentence, leads the world in the number of such cases.

When this draconian sentence is combined with the use of mandatory LWOP for incidental involvement in crimes where a victim dies (even days, weeks or in some cases years after the event) and the virtual shutdown in the commutation system, the state comes off as notoriously harsh.  If such sentencing resulted in an end or even a reduction in violence, citizens could rejoice.  But statistics don’t lie and there is no discernible difference in crime rate in the Keystone State than in any of the others.  In fact, some argue that the state’s extreme response to crime might actually engender rather than deter violence.

The resolution adopted by the Bar Association was introduced by Angus Love, executive director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project and a member of the Prison Society’s board of directors.  It states in part:

“WHEREAS, The American Bar Association House of Delegates passed Resolution 195 C in 2008 stating that juveniles should be eligible for parole at some point in their sentences and that the sentences they serve should be less punitive that those for comparable sentences for adults;

“WHEREFORE, The Pennsylvania Bar Association joins the American Bar Association in support of the concept that juveniles should be eligible for parole at some point in their sentences and that their sentences should be less punitive that for comparable sentences for adults.”

Cheers to Angus for standing up on this issue and to the Bar members for speaking out.

Click here to call for an end to juvenile life without parole.