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Juvenile Life Without Parole

Juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) is a sentence of life in prison, without the possibility of parole, imposed on a child under the age of 18. In several states, children and young people are still sentenced to life without parole. Although JLWOP sentences were abolished in Illinois, that legislation is not yet retroactive and there are still people in the state incarcerated with such sentences. Restore Justice continues to advocate and support efforts for shorter, rehabilitative sentences.

Read about our bill that abolished juvenile life without parole in Illinois Learn more about parole in Illinois

Overview

This extreme sentencing practice began in the tough-on-crime eras of the 1970s and 1990s and continues into the present. This sentence implies that the young person is beyond transformation and should never be released into society—under any circumstances. However, young people are the most likely to transform as they continue to develop and mature. Young people sentenced to life without parole will never have an opportunity to demonstrate that they have been rehabilitated.

While the legal and technical definition of JLWOP requires: 1) a sentence of life rather than a term of years, and 2) the person sentenced to be under 18, the focus of Restore Justice includes those who were sentenced under similar circumstances and with similar outcomes but who may not precisely fit this definition. For example, lengthy prison sentences of several decades are effectively life sentences, and youth in their late teens and early twenties also deserve special consideration as young people despite being 18 and older. Increasingly, court decisions at the state and national level are also beginning to recognize the urgency of addressing the extremity of de-facto life sentences of 40 years or longer and the unique characteristics of emerging adults. 

Restore Justice advocates for the expansion of sentencing reform that includes the abolition of extreme sentences (including both life and de-facto life sentences) for those sentenced as emerging adults aged 18-20.

Learn more about the history of sentencing

YOUTH JUSTICE

The United States is the only country in the world that continues to sentence children to die in prison. Yet, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized that children are “categorically less culpable” than adults.

History

The United States is the only country in the world that continues to sentence children to die in prison. Yet, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized that children are “categorically less culpable” than adults, and that judges must factor in age when imposing a sentence. The Court has established that children lack maturity and have an underdeveloped sense of responsibility that makes them more reckless, impulsive, and risk-prone than adults, but also more capable of rehabilitation. Children and young adults have unique development characteristics that influence their conduct and require a different approach from the criminal legal system.

In the 2012 Miller v. Alabama decision, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that mandatory life without parole sentences for those under the age of 18 was cruel and unusual punishment and therefore unconstitutional. In 2015, the Court’s ruling in Montgomery v. Louisiana made this decision retroactive.

Bipartisan momentum is growing across the United States to abolish JLWOP sentences. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of states that have banned life without parole for children has quadrupled: as of May 2023, it is prohibited prospectively in 27 states and the District of Columbia.

the problem with mandatory sentences

“And on the verdict of guilty of first degree murder … I sentence you to a term of natural life in the Illinois Department of Corrections … That is the sentence that I am mandated by law to impose. If I had my discretion, I would impose another sentence, but that is mandated by law.”
– Cook County Associate Judge Thomas Dywer, from Illinois Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Children’s 2008 report

Mandatory vs. Discretionary Life without Parole Sentences

Mandatory life

These sentences are required by law for convictions of certain offenses, as designated by a legislature. Mandatory sentences must be imposed regardless of a judge’s opinion or, in many states, regardless of the age of the defendant. In 2012, the US Supreme Court deemed mandatory juvenile life without parole sentences unconstitutional. Before 2012, judges often went on record noting they legally had to impose life sentences, but thought the juvenile deserved a lesser sentence. Before sentencing a 15-year-old accomplice to a murder case, Cook County Associate Judge Thomas Dywer said: 

“And on the verdict of guilty of first degree murder … I sentence you to a term of natural life in the Illinois Department of Corrections … That is the sentence that I am mandated by law to impose. If I had my discretion, I would impose another sentence, but that is mandated by law.” (Illinois Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Children, 2008.)

In the 2012 Miller v. Alabama decision to abolish mandatory juvenile life without parole sentences, the United States Supreme Court held that:

“Children are constitutionally different from adults for sentencing purposes. Their ‘lack of maturity’ and ‘underdeveloped sense of responsibility’ lead to recklessness, impulsivity, and heedless risk-taking. They are more vulnerable … to negative influences and outside pressures, including from their family and peers; they have limited ‘contro[l] over their own environment’ and lack the ability to extricate themselves from horrific, crime-producing settings. … because a child’s character is not as ‘well formed’ as an adult’s, his traits are ‘less fixed’ and his actions are less likely to be ‘evidence of irretrievabl[e] deprav[ity].’”

Discretionary life

These sentence are chosen by a judge after they’ve considered the defendant’s mitigating factors, role in the crime, and potential for rehabilitation. 

In the 2015 Montgomery v. Louisiana decision, the Court concluded that life without parole sentences should be “uncommon” and reserved only for rare occasions.  

Why Is It Important to Abolish Juvenile Life Without Parole?

Brain science

Science has shown that the brain continues to mature until the mid-twenties. As a result, young people cannot be held to the same standards of responsibility as adults.

Read more about juvenile justice and the adolescent brain

Low recidivism

Research shows that people age out of criminal behavior. A recent study highlighted an extremely low recidivism rate (>2%) among those who once were incarcerated for juvenile life without parole sentences.

Read the study

International law

There is a global consensus that children need special consideration and deserve special care and assistance. Juvenile life without parole sentences violate Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which stipulates that “No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Learn more about the Convention

Juvenile Life without Parole in Illinois

In 2008, approximately 100 people were serving terms of life without parole in Illinois for offenses they were convicted of committing before the age of 18. 

In Illinois, a series of national and state court decisions led to resentencing pathways for those approximately 100 people serving juvenile life without parole sentences. The 2012 Miller decision was expanded to apply retroactively to those already incarcerated in 2014 thanks to the Illinois Supreme Court case People v. Davis. This ruling was bolstered by the Montgomery decision in 2015. 

As of May 2023, nearly 70 of those with mandatory JLWOP sentences in Illinois had been resentenced, with more resentencing hearings scheduled. Additionally, over 50 people originally sentenced to juvenile life without parole have been released from prison, including at least 6 people who have been exonerated. 

Our Work and JLWOP

Restore Justice’s primary focus is abolishing life without parole sentences for children and young adults.

Our efforts have led to important criminal justice reform

Public Act 100-1182 creates new parole opportunities for those under 21 coming into the system today with extreme sentences ahead of them; Public Act 102-1128 ensures that no children 17 or younger can receive a life without parole sentence. The passage of Public Act 102-1128 made Illinois the 26th state in the U.S. to abolish juvenile life without parole. This law also makes Illinois a leader in sentencing reform by recognizing young people’s brain development and ensuring most people 18-20 are parole-eligible.

Read more about our legislative impact

We advocate for fairness, humanity, and compassion throughout the Illinois criminal justice system.

Our current focus is retroactivity for children sentenced to juvenile life without parole between 1978 and 2019. Retroactivity is important to ensure that youthful parole opportunities are applied fairly and evenly, and to significantly reduce prison population.

Our current legislative agenda

We also work to expand the abolition of juvenile life without parole to emerging adults.

As the US Supreme Court has recognized that neurological development affects how young people think and act, it is important to expand the abolition of juvenile life without parole to emerging adults. This expansion will bring Illinois in line with most states that have abolished life without parole for children and young adults.

Learn more about emerging adults

Coming Soon

Storytelling Project

In 2022, Restore Justice began a multi-year project to tell the stories of people who received life without parole sentences in Illinois as juveniles. This project involves sharing the insights and lived experiences of formerly and currently incarcerated individuals in order to promote a deeper cultural understanding of the impacts of lengthy incarceration and of the Illinois legal system. The project is also an opportunity to highlight the journeys of transformation and success of people who were formerly incarcerated.

This project is underway now, and stories will begin appearing on our website in Fall 2023.

In addition to this specific project, Restore Justice is committed to sharing the stories of those impacted by the unjust laws in Illinois that we work to dismantle.

Read Criminal Legal System Stories

Learn more

The Issues around Sentencing in Illinois

In Illinois, a number of sentencing laws converge to create a system that consistently applies extremely long prison terms. While touted as a strategy to make our justice system more fair and effective, research shows that policies like these lead to little to no reduction in crime, while contributing heavily to overcrowded prisons. Restore Justice supports policies that would eliminate or reduce mandatory minimums, roll back firearm enhancements, and otherwise change the laws that rigidly increase sentence lengths or restrict judges from applying appropriate sentences.

Read more

Interested in Our Work?

Help us change Illinois’ cruel sentencing and prison condition laws. We also focus on creating new pathways to release for people already incarcerated. Whether through our Advocacy Team, training, volunteering, or our programs serving system-impacted people, there are a variety of ways you can become involved.

Get involved