9.9 Returning to Rehabilitation in the Contemporary Juvenile Justice System
9.9 Returning to Rehabilitation in the Contemporary Juvenile Justice System
Alison S. Burke; Michelle Holcomb; and Kate McLean
Empirical research drives recent reform efforts. The past decade has witnessed the identification of key developmental processes associated with delinquent behavior, with neuroscientists concluding that the regions of the brain associated with impulse control and risk assessment are not fully formed until at least 25 years of age. In light of such research, the courts, policymakers, and other juvenile justice personnel have required or suggested significant changes to the juvenile justice process, including changes in youth sentencing and confinement.
Notably, four landmark Supreme Court cases – all dating to the last 20 years – have reversed many of the punitive policies enacted in the 1990s by prohibiting the most severe punishment for juvenile offenders. Read about these four remarkable cases below, and listen to the oral arguments here, if you’re interested.
Roper v. Simmons (2005)
In 2005, a landmark decision by the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to impose a death penalty sentence on any youth who was under the age of 18 when they committed their offense (Roper v. Simmons). Although Christopher Simmons planned and committed a capital offense (murdering his neighbor, Shirley Cook), the court ruled that 18 years of age is where criminal responsibility should rest. That is to say, if a child is too young to vote, sign contracts, or do a number of other “adult” things, then they are too young to receive the death penalty. In their decision, the court referenced “the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” to determine which punishments are so disproportionate as to be “cruel and unusual.” Simmons received life in prison for his crime. At the time of the Roper v. Simmons verdict, the U.S. was only one of a handful of countries that still imposed the death penalty on juveniles.
Graham v. Florida (2010)
While the death penalty was taken off the table for youth under the age of 18, many were instead being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for numerous violent crimes. This was until the 2010 case of Graham v. Florida. Terrance Graham received life in prison for a felony offense (armed burglary) when he was only 16 years old. Since Florida does not have parole, his sentence de facto became life without the possibility of parole. The Supreme Court heard his case and ruled that it was unconstitutional to sentence a minor to life without the possibility of parole for a non-homicide offense.
Miller v. Alabama (2012)
Two years later, juvenile law again rested in the hands of the Supreme Court. Even though Graham v. Florida abolished life without the possibility of parole for non-homicide offenses, youth under the age of 18 were still receiving that sentence for crimes of murder – including record numbers in Pennsylvania. In 2012, Evan Miller was 14 year