Juvenile Life Without Parole (H 5650, S 0389)

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court banned states from imposing on juvenile offenders a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole. However, states retain the discretion to impose the penalty on a case-by-case basis. Legislation sought to make that penalty off-limits altogether for juvenile defendants in Rhode Island. As of June 2015, fourteen states have eliminated life-without-parole sentences for youth. As the Supreme Court noted, adolescence is marked by “transient rashness, proclivity for risk, and inability to assess consequences,” and juveniles who commit their crimes at that age should not be treated as being forever incapable of rehabilitation. In March, the ACLU tesified in support of this important legislation. Unfortunately, neither bill moved in committee this year.