Madison Organizing in Strength, Equity, and Solidarity
for Criminal Legal System Reform

End Life Sentences for Juveniles

End Life Sentences for Juveniles   By Margaret Irwin

 

The State of Wisconsin is inching its way toward passing a bill that would end life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles. Current law allows a judge to sentence offenders between 13 and 17 to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or community supervision, no matter how many decades they will serve.

 

In December 2023, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 801/Assembly Bill 845. It states that when the court sentences a youthful offender to life imprisonment, it must set a date on which the person will become eligible to be considered for release on parole or community supervision. Normally, this would be after 15-20 years in prison. Passing this bill would not guarantee release, but it creates a mechanism to apply for early release. It would also apply retroactively, opening the possibility of release to several dozen current prisoners who received extreme sentences during their teens. 

 

Passage of SB801/AB845 would bring Wisconsin in line with 28 states that have already banned Juvenile Life Without Parole sentences, including Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. The U.S. is the only country in the world that allows such sentences. The bill would also bring Wisconsin law into accord with the U.S. Constitution. In Miller vs. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that imposing a mandatory life sentence without parole on a juvenile constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and therefore violates the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. 

 

The movement to ban life sentences for juveniles is also based on a growing body of scientific evidence that the brain continues to develop into a person’s mid-20s. Younger people may exhibit immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate risks and consequences. As state Sen. Jesse James, co-author of SB 801 asks, “How is a 15-year-old supposed to understand life without parole when that sentence is literally quadruple the entire time they’ve been alive? People can grow; people can change, especially when their brains are still forming. Juveniles deserve a second chance.” 

 

A report from The Sentencing Project concludes: “The evolving maturing of young adults leads to a sharp decline in criminal tendencies by the late 30s; and therefore, incarceration beyond a period of 15-20 years, even for serious crimes, produces diminishing returns for public safety. The National Research Council is the latest authority to note that long-term sentences serve little purpose other than to reinforce [retribution rather than rehabilitation].”

 

Similar bills have been introduced in the state Legislature in the past, but they never made it out of committee. Now there is some progress. The Assembly Committee on Judiciary held a hearing on the bill on Feb. 8. James Morgan and Sherry Reames from MOSES and Mark Rice from WISDOM testified in favor of the bill, and many MOSES members contacted their legislators to express their support. Since the legislative session is set to end on March 14, the bill may not pass during this session. However, the gears have been set in motion. As we know in MOSES, progress can be slow, so it’s important to keep our collective foot on the pedal.