Some children have been known to commit petty crimes. Stealing a candy bars / shoplifting, tagging a wall, puncturing a tire, or even breaking a neighbor’s window usually result in a slap on the wrist, or at most some community service hours.
Coupled with whatever punishment the child receives from their parents, these minor offenses are typically not repeated and everyone can go on with their lives.
Some children however, have been known to commit major crimes such as murder, or attempted murder. However, when all is said and done, these children are also allowed to go on with their lives… albeit, in prison.
There are, currently, 309 youth offenders serving life-without-parole sentences in California prisons for committing murders before they were 18 years old.
In a landmark decision, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law California’s Senate Bill 9, the Fair Sentencing for Youth Act. This action provides a ray of hope to those sentenced to life in prison when they weren’t yet old enough to vote.
Senate Bill 9 allows for an inmate sentenced to life without parole as a juvenile to apply for a sentence reduction after serving 15 years in prison. If the inmate in question has shown remorse for their crime, and has taken steps toward rehabilitation, then they may be eligible for a sentence reduction of 25 years to life.
The sentence of 25 to life, while still steep, ensures that the convicted youth offender will serve a lengthy sentence for committing their crime, but will allow for some semblance of a normal life, later on.
The only country in the world that sentences an offender, under the age of 18, to life in prison is the United States. There are 38 states in the Union that will sentence minors to life in prison without parole, and many see Senate Bill 9 as a huge step toward ending this practice.
We’ll have to wait and see if the other 38 states will follow suit and end the practice of convicting minors to life in prison.
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