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Hopefully as one peruses the contents of these pages and documents, one begins to see the overwhelming majority of work devoted to the juvenile killers, and massive amount of monetary resources spent on creating a very sympathetic picture of the young criminals, with virtually no attention to the horrible crimes themselves, the victims of these crimes, and the damage left behind in the wake of the horrific choices these young offenders made. We understand the need to understand the offenders, but this is not for the most part objective and factual reporting as much as advocacy with the pre-determined agenda. And if the offender advocates wish to see real political change on their issue, to ignore, minimize and so alienate the victims and the true crime is not only unethical but poor political strategy.

Contact Us to send us links, updates, and materials to post on this page

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Documents and reports pertaining to sentencing, victims rights, and JLWOP
 

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Advocacy organizations for victims
 

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Advocacy organizations for juvenile offenders sentenced to life (JLWOP or "juvenile lifers")
 

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Proposed legislation in States on the juvenile life without parole sentence
 

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Blogs discussing the JLWOP sentence - Join in the discussion! Let victims' voices be heard!
 

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Polling Data relevant to this discussion
 

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MEDIA on JLWOP

 

LINKS to groups advocating for "Juvenile Lifers"
(caveat: our organization does not endorse necessarily any of these organizations - merely provides the links for informational purposes)
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Colorado - Compassion in Sentencing
 

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The Pendulum Foundation - Colorado
 

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Illinois Coalition for the "Fair Sentencing of Children"
 

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Human Rights Watch
 

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California Human Rights Watch
 

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Amnesty International
 

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Michigan's "Second Chances"
 

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NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
 

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Nebraska and ACLU "Second Chances"
 

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Child Rights Information Network
 

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National Coalition to Ban Life Without Parole for
Youth Offenders

 

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Justice for Juveniles

 

LINKS to Victims Rights Groups in States
and National Advocacy for Victims

(caveat: our organization does not endorse necessarily
any of these organizations - merely provides links for informational purposes)
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COVA - Colorado victim advocates
 

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Crime Victims United of California - see staff, and
contact Maggie Elvey

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Crime Victims Action Alliance
 

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IllinoisVictims.org
 

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Justice for All - Texas
 

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National Center for Victims of Crime NCVC
 

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National Coalition of Victims in Action
 

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National Organization of Victims Assistance NOVA
 

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Office for Victims of Crime - US Dept of Justice
 

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Parents of Murdered Children
 

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Polly Franks Foundation - VA
 

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Victims for Justice - Alaska
 

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Victims Voices Heard - Delaware
 

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Virginians United Against Crime
 

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You Have the Power - TN

 

 

PROPOSED LEGISLATION TO ABOLISH JLWOP in States

Illinois' HB 4384

California's SB 999 - or its next incarnation

Michigan's SB 40

 

 DOCUMENTS AND REPORTS ON VICTIMS, SENTENCING, and JLWOP

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The National Crime Victims Law Institute's report on sentencing models in all 50 states and the role
that victims have, if any, in any parole boards considering prisoner releases in states that have it.

 

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The National Crime Victims Law Institute's brief on victims' rights in retroactive sentencing reduction
legislative discussions
in this case in Illinois (but would be applicable in many states in principle)
 

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Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International's joint report on JLWOP - "The Rest of Their Lives"
 

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Illinois- "Categorically Less Culpable" Report against JLWOP
 

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Michigan - ACLU Report against the JLWOP sentence
 

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Sentencing Law and Policy Report on JLWOP
 

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Boston College Professor's Paper on JLWOP after the Supreme Court's Roper V Simmons Case on the
Juvenile Death Penalty

 

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"Criminology and Public Policy" papers on JLWOP
 

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National Sentencing Commission - this report has a list of which states have determinate sentencing (no parole)
and which ones have indeterminate sentencing (parole) - relevant to the JLWOP discussion as what victims face
in these two kinds of state sentencing schemes is quite different with revisions in the law
 

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Varying Victim Perspectives on JLWOP from group advocating against JLWOP
 

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The NAACP's Legal Defense Project report on JLWOP in Mississippi "No Chance to Make It Right", (a title we vehemently object to.  See below **for explanation.)
 

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"When I Die, They'll Send Me Home" - a report on JLWOP in California from Human Rights Watch
 

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A research paper written on Juvenile Life Without Parole by a Stanford University Law Student who opposes the sentence and see our commentary*****

BLOGS ON JLWOP

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Colorado based blog is first in nation we know of calling for the right kind of dialogue with victims and
respecting victims voices in this debate

 

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Massachusetts attorney's blog on sentencing developments
 

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ACSBlog
 

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TalkLeft blog on Nevada's proposed JLWOP legislation
 

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TalkLeft blog on Florida's failed bill on JLWOP

RELEVANT POLLING DATA

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The Justice Project's polls on JLWOP and sentencing options

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2003 related to the death penalty

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2007 IBID

 

**It it absolutely thoughtless of the victims of these crimes for the NAACP to title this report "No Chance to Make It Right".
For those of us who have had family members murdered, bottom line is there is NEVER a chance to "make it right" after a murder for anyone. Murdered loved ones can not be brought back. No matter the age of the offender. The only "right" possible for many victims is for the offender to serve their sentence without asking the victims families to be further re-traumatized. But further, the implication is that juveniles, or any offender, serving life sentences can't possibly ever redeem themselves while behind bars, and that is not only NOT true, but a horrible thing to say to all prisoners. A great deal of good can be done by offenders from behind bars who are dedicated to doing so. No matter the content of this report by an organization we have tremendous respect for, the title of this report is further evidence of how absolutely out of touch with the victims of these crimes most advocates for the juvenile lifers are around the nation as a whole.

*****Regarding the research paper written by Mr. Roberge, the Stanford student who interviewed Jennifer to get the perspective of someone who favors the JLWOP sentence: we commend this young man's efforts in researching and writing this paper. I enjoyed interviewing with him. No paper of this length and attempting to cover this breadth will do justice to the nuanced position I hold and that is required when thinking about the JLWOP sentence. In general, And I believe that my own position is much more complex and less black and white than I am portrayed - but it is helpful for me to see myself as someone who interviews me sees me. If I have not gotten my message across clearly than I have to work at my message. I don't have the faith in the criminal justice system this portrays. I know it is riddled with error - serious error - and is in need of dramatic reform - as are most human institutions, by the way.

My message is that the sentence is only appropriate in the most rare of circumstances - when a thorough and PROPER rigorous and honest and just due process of law is given to a case and all agree that likely this sociopath will never qualify for release, then the Human Rights of the victims not to have to be re-injured to the degree that regular parole reviews DO damage them should outweigh any right to review the offender has. And there is the point. There ARE going to be offenders - no matter their age at the time of the crime - that a rigorous and fair justice system will find unable to ever be released. My most progressive and expert friends agree with me about that.

So when you know this is the case, you cannot ethically decide to hurt the victims families over and over and over again for life when you KNOW the killer will never earn release. That is why I am for the sentence - sometimes.

The magnitude of what victims families go through in the re-engagement that comes with parole reviews. And solutions are not addressed in this paper - other than to abolish the sentence which does not really solve the problem and is not at all likely politically. I have tried to seriously address solutions on my website - the transfer mechanism by which juvenile criminals are transferred to adult courts - this should never be mandatory. Those kinds of reforms might actually pass in some states.

But the paper does not address the JLWOP reform movement's refusal to date to find and inform and reach out to the victims families of these crimes in true restorative justice fashion is essential. I know it would take writing a book to cover it all.

More specific comments on this paper to come.