FALSE HOPE

In New York, as of January 2016, 632 individuals are serving
life sentences for offenses committed between the ages of
13 and 17. 233 A further 1,906 are serving life sentences for
offenses committed between the ages of 18 and 21. 234
In California, 2,994 individuals are serving parole-eligible
life sentences for crimes committed when they were under
18 years old. In addition to prisoners serving life sentences,
24 individuals in California who were under 18 at the time
of their offense are serving sentences of 50 years or more;
37 are serving sentences of 40-49 years in prison. A further
15,605 California prisoners are serving life sentences for
offenses committed when they were 18 to 25 years old. 235
According to ACLU calculations, in Texas, of the 6,602
individuals incarcerated in Texas for felonies committed
as juveniles, 660 are serving life sentences (as of July 2016).
A further 863 individuals are serving sentences of 40 years
or more for offenses committed as juveniles. Thus, almost
a quarter (23 percent) of the juvenile offenders in Texas
incarcerated for felonies are serving either life sentences or
sentences of 40 years or more. An additional 1,928 individuals
in Texas are serving life sentences for offenses committed
between the ages of 18-21. An additional 2,417 individuals
in Texas who were 18-21 at the time of their crime are serving
sentences of 40 years or more.
In South Carolina, 192 individuals are serving life sentences
for offenses committed under age 18. 236
In Pennsylvania, as of June 2015, 290 juvenile offenders were
serving parole-eligible life sentences. 237 A further 86 juvenile
offenders were serving sentences of 50 years or more. 238
As of August 2015, the Georgia Department of Corrections
housed 779 people serving life with parole who were under
18 at the time of their offense, and a further 2,345 individuals
serving life imprisonment who were between the ages of
18 and 22 at the time of their offense. 239 Beyond those serving
life, 38 individuals who were juveniles at their offense
were serving sentences of 50 years or more, 75 were serving
sentences of 40-49 years, and 199 were serving sentences of
30-39 years. 240
In 2015, 366 individuals in Florida were serving a parole-eligible
life sentence for an offense committed when they
were under 18 years of age. 241 A further 1,897 were serving
parolable life sentences for offenses committed between the
ages of 18 and 25. 242
In Indiana, five individuals are serving life imprisonment for
offenses committed as juveniles, 243 a further 85 are serving
sentences over 50 years, and 24 are serving sentences of 40 to
49 years for offenses committed as juveniles. 244
In Illinois, as of June 2015, 80 individuals were serving
life sentences for offenses committed as juveniles, 283 are
serving sentences of 50 years or more, and 167 are serving
sentences of 40 to 50 years for offenses committed as
juveniles. 245
The post-Miller laws do not necessarily address the parole
procedures and the likelihood that those young people
sentenced to life with parole will actually be released once
rehabilitated. In delegating to parole boards the ultimate
responsibility for whether a young offender will be released,
states may have solved their constitutional sentencing problem
in name only—and given false hope to thousands of
individuals serving long sentences since they were children
under the age of 18. The possibility of parole often means
little when prisoners must first serve a significant number of
years in prison before they even become eligible for it.
For example, Georgia has repeatedly increased the minimum
number of years a prisoner serving a life sentence would
have to serve before becoming eligible for parole, first from
seven years to 14 in 1995, and then from 14 years to 30 years
in 2006. 246 If the prisoner is serving multiple consecutive
life sentences and one of the convictions is for murder, the
minimum number of years was expanded to 60 years. 247 In
Massachusetts, individuals who were serving JLWOP must
now serve up to 30 years before they become eligible for
parole. 248 In Texas, in addition to the individuals previously
serving JLWOP, who must serve a minimum 40 years before
parole review, individuals convicted of other serious crimes
such as aggravated robbery or murder must serve a mandatory
30 years before becoming eligible for parole. 249 Others
convicted of certain sex offenses must serve a minimum 35
years before their review. 250
Deon Williams (full summary in Section X), a Black man
serving a life sentence in Texas, was 16 at the time he was
arrested and was subsequently convicted of a murder,
Deon Williams, age 16 at
the time of his offense, is
serving a 60-year sentence
in Texas.
relationship with his mother and siblings.
although he wasn’t the
triggerman. Mr. Williams
and a group of older teens
were robbing a house, and
one of them shot and killed
the woman who lived there.
Mr. Williams has served 22
years of a 60-year sentence.
He will not be considered
for parole until late 2024,
when he will be 46 years
old. While in prison, Mr.
Williams has gotten his
GED, taken vocational
programming, worked as a
store clerk, and rebuilt his
Jacob Blackmon, a white man serving a life sentence in
Texas, was charged with capital murder of a college student
when he was 15 years old;
Mr. Blackmon has maintained
his innocence and is
pursuing post-conviction
relief with an attorney. In
1994, he was convicted
and sentenced to life in
prison; he must serve 40
years before he is eligible
for parole, Mr. Blackmon
will not be reviewed by the
parole board until 2034, at
Aron Knall, photographed
around the time of his
offense at age 15, is serving
a 40- to 60-year sentence.
which time he will be 56
years old.
Meanwhile, in Michigan,
although individuals sentenced
as juveniles to LWOP for first-degree murder may now
be resentenced to a term of years equivalent to a minimum
of 25 to 40 years with a maximum of 60 years, 251 individuals
like Aron Knall, serving a 40- to 60-year sentence for
second-degree murder, continue to serve long sentences for
years before they become eligible for parole. Mr. Knall (full
summary in Section X) is a 44-year-old Black man who has
been incarcerated in Michigan for almost 30 years. He was
15 at the time of his offense (a murder that he says resulted
from a shootout with another young man during a botched
robbery) and will not be eligible for parole until 2022. He
has twice applied for commutation through the parole
board, but despite substantial support from correctional
staff as well as his family, he has been denied both times.
The sentencing landscape for juveniles is certainly changing
after decades of research and advocacy around youth and
criminal responsibility. However, extreme sentences persist.
36 AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FALSE HOPE: HOW PAROLE SYSTEMS FAIL YOUTH SERVING EXTREME SENTENCES
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