For Years, I Didn’t Have An Outlet For Self-Growth In Prison. Now That I Do, I Can Address The Harm I’ve Caused. Truitt Watts, who is serving a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole at Oregon State Correctional Institution, describes the programs that helped him recover from addiction and address his past. Truitt Watts
Minors Sentenced To Life Without Parole Deserve More Than Scare Tactics When Transitioning To Adult Prisons If the justice system’s goal is to produce healthy, safe, and productive members of society, then it must begin with support from corrections staff and healthy relationships with peers. Anthony Richardson
I Killed My Brother When I Was 17. Now I’m Saving Lives In Prison. Cayce French, who is serving life in prison at the Oregon State Correctional Institution, describes how getting clean and participating in rehabilitation programs has transformed his identity. Cayce French
I Was a Child When The State Sentenced Me To Die In Prison. But I Found A Path To Redemption In A Community Of Lifers. I learned later than I should have what you probably already know: that it is strength not weakness to lean on somebody when you feel vulnerable and defeated and let them help you. Seth Koch
In Oregon, a Hopeful Sign for Those Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms as Children The state’s attorney general decided to support resentencing hearings in two high-profile cases, though she had fought appeals in the past. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Remaking Our Legal System With More Compassion And Humanity Is Necessary And Urgent Work The Appeal and Oregon Justice Resource Center announce “Left Behind,” firsthand accounts of growing-up in prison from individuals sentenced as children. Bobbin Singh
The Supreme Court Ruled That Sentences Like Hers Are Unconstitutional. Prosecutors Are Fighting To Keep Her Incarcerated. Prosecutor Jessica Cooper of Oakland County, Michigan, has aggressively pursued life without the possibility of parole for children, critics say. She recommended the sentence for Barbara Hernández, who at 16 was a ‘slave’ to an abusive boyfriend who drew her into a plan that ended in murder. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Arizona Prosecutor Commissions Report That Argues Against Leniency For Teens Who Commit Crimes Report attempts to discredit decades of research on the adolescent mind. Kira Lerner
A Deadly Father-And-Son Bank Robbery Raises Questions About Culpability and The Adolescent Mind Christopher Lay grew up under the influence of a father who was mentally ill. Drawn into a crime at age 19, he’s now seeking a second chance that could help other young adults demand the same. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Sentenced to Life Without Parole at 17 and Denied Freedom at 52 Richard Kinder thought he would die in an Alabama prison until the Supreme Court ruled mandatory juvenile life without parole unconstitutional. But last year, despite a judge concluding there was “uncontradicted evidence” that Kinder had worked to rehabilitate himself, the state parole board refused him release. Lauren Gill
D.C. Shows Mercy For People Who Committed Crimes As Children, But Prosecutors Are Fighting Back U.S. attorneys in D.C. have opposed the resentencing of all 14 people who have petitioned for early release under a local law. Kira Lerner
Pennsylvania Case Challenges ‘Death by Incarceration’ for 18-year-olds Recent Supreme Court rulings have led to a review of life-without-parole sentences for crimes committed at age 17 and younger, but attorneys for Avis Lee say there’s no reason to stop there. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
