All Children Are Children: EJI Report on Abusive Punishment of Juveniles

 All Children Are Children: 
Challenging Abusive Punishment of Juveniles
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EJI Report: ALL CHILDREN ARE CHILDREN

In June 2012, the Supreme Court issued a historic ruling declaring mandatory life-without-parole sentences for children under 17 years of age convicted of homicide unconstitutional. The ruling comes as an opportunity of hope for the hundreds of individuals given life-without-parole sentences without any consideration of their age or other mitigating factors by the Courts. In this report, composed by the Equal Justice Initiative, a private, non-profit organization, providing legal services to "the poor, the incarcerated, he condemned, and children" in Montgomery, Alabama, you can read about the stories and view the faces of many of those children. Such as Kuntrell Jackson, who was given a mandatory sentenced to die in an Arkansas prison after his cousin and friend shot a store clerk during a robbery attempt. He was handed this death-in-prison sentence though Kuntrell was not the shooter and did not possess a gun at the time of the robbery. He was 14 years old.

In addition to the history and facts surrounding life-without-parole sentences for children, the report highlights a number of harmful and disturbing truths about our country's criminal and juvenile justice systems and the way we treat children. For instance, as many as 10,000 children are housed in adult prisons in any given day, despite data, research, and expertise that tells us children housed with adults are more likely to commit offenses as adults and to commit suicide. In addition, it wasn't until 2005, that the Supreme Court declared death by execution unconstitutional for juveniles. Yes, 2005. Just 10 short years ago, it was completely legal to execute a child under 17 years of age. In fact, according to EJI's report, 365 children were legally executed in the United States, including 22 since 1985.
 
The report includes dozens of powerful images of the children we have essentially thrown away to a system that doesn't acknowledge their age, their stories, and their capacity for transformation. That up until just 10 years ago was willing to execute them. That up until just 3 years ago was willing to allow them to spend their whole lives incarcerated. The images are gripping and provide a meaningful picture but I am of the belief that every American should be required to visit a juvenile and adult prison. Should be required to see where we send our children and our fellow people to exist, many for years or the entirety of their lives. Even today, the Supreme Court ruling of 2012 does not ban life-without-parole sentences for children under 17 but only requires the Courts to consider "children's diminished culpability, and heightened capacity for change." Which essentially means we can only hope that this consideration is enough to save our children.