{"id":2081,"date":"2009-01-30T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-30T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/?p=2081"},"modified":"2013-05-10T14:54:54","modified_gmt":"2013-05-10T18:54:54","slug":"january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/","title":{"rendered":" Juvenile Life Without Parole"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

BOB ABERNETHY<\/strong>, anchor: We have a powerful story today about punishment for juveniles who commit crimes. The Supreme Court has thrown out the death penalty for such young people, but in 44 states they can still be sentenced to life in prison without parole.\u00a0 Is that just for children – even for the worst crimes? Tim O’Brien reports from Tampa, Florida.<\/p>\n

TIM O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: Twenty-three-year-old Kenneth Young is serving life in prison with no possibility of parole for a series of hotel robberies in and around Tampa, Florida. It was June of 2000. Young had just turned 15 and was acting at the direction of 25-year-old Jacques Bethea, a neighborhood drug dealer with a long arrest record. Bethea would hold the gun. Young would take the money:<\/p>\n

KENNETH YOUNG<\/strong>: The only thing he told me to do was get the money and the tapes, and that was it.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: What tapes?<\/p>\n

Mr. YOUNG<\/strong>: Like video tapes from the video cameras.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: The security cameras?<\/p>\n

\"\"Mr. YOUNG<\/strong>: Yes, sir.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: And you did that?<\/p>\n

Mr. YOUNG<\/strong>: Yes, sir.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: Young says he had little choice. His mother was addicted to crack cocaine and had stolen drugs from Bethea. He believed her life was in danger.<\/p>\n

Mr. YOUNG<\/strong>: He threatened to hurt my Momma.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: What did he say he\u2019d do?<\/p>\n

Mr. YOUNG<\/strong>: Kill her.<\/p>\n

Mr. YOUNG<\/strong>: Yes, sir.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: Young\u2019s mother, who says she\u2019s been off drugs for more than three years, blames herself for the fix her son is in.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: If you didn\u2019t go along?<\/p>\n

STEPHANIE YOUNG<\/strong>: Yes, I do, I do, because if it wasn\u2019t for the drugs, me being on drugs, then my son wouldn\u2019t be where he\u2019s at today.<\/p>\n

\"\"O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: Young is being held at a maximum security prison in central Florida. Under Florida law, juveniles charged with serious crimes are tried as adults, and serious crimes \u2014 like armed robbery \u2014 can bring life in prison. And in the courtroom of Judge J. Rogers Padgett, being a child didn\u2019t seem to help. It can even hurt the child who behaves like one, as Kenneth Young did.<\/p>\n

Judge J. ROGERS PADGETT<\/strong> (Hillsborough County, Florida Circuit Court): So what we see is what we get in the way of a defendant. We get a person who shows no remorse. We get a person who is smiling in court, thinks it\u2019s funny. We have a person who, while he is under consideration for a life sentence, is flipping signals to people in the gallery.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: He\u2019s only 15, barely.<\/p>\n

Judge PADGETT<\/strong>: We have a person who gives no appearance of deserving any slack whatsoever and sentence him. So we give him a life sentence.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: Enter law professor Paolo Annino, who runs the Children in Prison Project at Florida State University. Annino has been trying for years to get the Florida legislature to allow parole consideration for all juvenile offenders in the state to give them a second chance, his arguments as much moral as they are legal.<\/p>\n

(to Prof. Paolo Annino): Is it your position that no juvenile should be sentenced to life without parole?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Professor PAOLO ANNINO<\/strong> (Florida State University): Oh, absolutely, and I think we\u2019re immoral, ultimately, as a nation. This is no different from slavery or other major moral issues. Placing children in adult prisons for life is a death sentence for children. Do we want to do that as a society? Do we want to ignore our Western traditions? I mean, we do have Western traditions, and one part of our Western traditions is called redemption, and for many people in our culture redemption is an important value.<\/p>\n

Judge PADGETT<\/strong>: There are some crimes that these people have committed that simply have no redemption. The victim and the public in general who know about the crime are looking for retribution.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: It\u2019s all about retribution.<\/p>\n

Judge PADGETT<\/strong>: Retribution, right.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: According to Human Rights Watch, the United States is the only country in the world that regularly sentences juvenile offenders to life in prison without parole. There are now more than 2,500. Pennsylvania has the most with 444. All but these six states allow life without parole for those under 18 at the time of their crimes.<\/p>\n

Most of the crimes that bring life in prison without parole are far worse than Kenneth Young\u2019s armed robberies. Most involved murder, often the murder of other children \u2014 crimes that shock the conscience and break the heart.<\/p>\n

DAWN ROMIG (testifying): Good morning. My name is Dawn Romig.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"post0e-juvenilelifesentence\"O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: In Pennsylvania, a Senate committee held hearings last October to consider doing away with life sentences for juvenile offenders. Lawmakers got an earful from opponents like Dawn Romig, whose 12-year-old daughter had been murdered by 17-year-old Brian Bahr.<\/p>\n

Ms. ROMIG (testifying): We learned that Brian had made a list. It was called 23 things to do to a girl in the woods: \u201cBeat her, check; rape her, check; kill her, check.\u201d Everything on that list was carried out. It was an adult act he planned and executed. Why should these juveniles not get life in prison? Age cannot excuse what they have done.<\/em><\/p>\n

JODI DOTTS (testifying): I never got to say goodbye to Kimmie. I never got to see her in a casket. I now talk to her at her grave still, 10 years later, on Mother\u2019s Day. I\u2019d also like to add, as I was sitting here listening to people saying they need second chances, my daughter didn\u2019t have a second chance. She wasn\u2019t given that choice whether to live or to die and I\u2019m here to fight to make sure that these juveniles do not get released. Thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: What do you say to the parents of a child \u2014 whose child is murdered?<\/p>\n

\"\"Prof. ANNINO<\/strong>: Well, it\u2019s tragic and it\u2019s very difficult, and I turn to a group that I\u2019m associated with, and it\u2019s called Mothers Against Murderers Association \u2014 and their children have been killed<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: MAMA Inc., a remarkable support group in West Palm Beach. Seventy-three women, all of whom have lost a child to murder, meet at this storefront office every other Thursday. The walls are lined with the photographs\u2014the mother with her lost child.<\/p>\n

On this day, Paula Bowe will be joining MAMA\u2019s poignant photo gallery. Her daughter was shot to death by an ex-boyfriend\u2014<\/p>\n

PAULA BOWE<\/strong>: And he shot her. He shot her twice at point blank\u2014once in the face, once in the neck.
\n <\/strong><\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: What makes this association so remarkable is that, despite their grief, members do not seek retribution. Instead, they speak out against it.<\/p>\n

ANGELA WILLIAMS<\/strong> (Founder, MAMA Inc): That\u2019s one thing I tell my moms all the time: the only way they\u2019re going to move on, they\u2019re going to have to learn to forgive, you know, and if they don\u2019t learn to forgive, then they\u2019ll never be able to move on to the next step.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: And Angela Williams should know.<\/p>\n

Ms. WILLIAMS<\/strong>: I lost seven. I lost five nephews and two nieces in my family, and that motivates me to keep going to help others. Gun violence \u2014 all killed by guns.<\/p>\n

\"\"O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: MAMA is supporting Kenneth Young\u2019s petition for clemency on the premise that any child should be given a second chance, even for murder.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: Sylvia Manning is a preacher whose son was shot to death. She believes there\u2019s hope for his killer, who has yet to be apprehended.<\/p>\n

Reverend SYLVIA MANNING<\/strong>: I feel as though whoever did this to my son, they can be redeemed. I mean, if they know Jesus they can be redeemed.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: It\u2019s a religious issue to you?<\/p>\n

Rev. MANNING<\/strong>: Not really religious. It\u2019s what my heart says.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: Linda Battle is a Palm Beach County deputy sheriff whose son Eric was run down and killed by a drug dealer.<\/p>\n

LINDA BATTLE<\/strong> (Deputy Sheriff, Palm Beach County, FL): I worked in the jails, and I see the juveniles come in there for major crimes, and they\u2019re just babies, and I don\u2019t know what got them to that point.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: What got them to that point? The U.S. Supreme Court, in rejecting the death penalty for juvenile offenders four years ago, relied in part on the growing body of psychiatric evidence that shows why children often fail to act as responsibly as adults,<\/p>\n

\"\"Dr. RICHARD RATNER<\/strong> (American Psychiatric Association): In a nutshell, it is that the brain has not really matured. You do not really have an adult brain until you are in your early 20s.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: You have actual, empirical evidence of that?<\/p>\n

Dr. RATNER<\/strong>: We do.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: Ratner says that magnetic resonance imaging \u2014 MRIs like this one \u2014 show that juveniles use a different part of the brain in the decision-making process than adults, making them more likely to act irrationally, less likely to appreciate the consequences of what they do.<\/p>\n

Roughly 25 percent of the juvenile offenders serving life with no parole for murder never murdered anyone; rather, they were following the lead of an older adult. But under what\u2019s known in the law as the felony murder rule, they are just as guilty as those who pull the trigger and often sentenced just as harshly.<\/p>\n

Prof. ANNINO<\/strong>: They follow these older adults, and then the adults commit a murder. So the kid never has the gun in his hand. The kid never touches the gun. Many times\u2014<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: But he\u2019s still charged with murder?<\/p>\n

Prof. ANNINO<\/strong>: He is charged with murder and gets the exact same sentence.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: An accessory is as guilty as the principal?<\/p>\n

\"post0j-juvenilelifesentence\"Prof. ANNINO<\/strong>: In the state of Florida it is exactly the same, and that\u2019s the felony murder rule, and we have it not just in Florida, but around the country, and the felony murder rules denies the individuality of the child. It ignores the fact that you have a child here, and you\u2019re treating the child just like an adult.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: Among those who have problems with that, we were surprised to find the judge who had sentenced Kenneth Young to four consecutive life terms. Judge J. Rogers Padgett said judges have no way of knowing what might become of the children who appear before them and, at least where the victim doesn\u2019t die, their fate should be left to the Department of Corrections.<\/p>\n

Judge PADGETT<\/strong>: If I went and talked to Kenneth, I might have sympathy, too, because I firmly believe the Department of Corrections ought to be given the latitude to determine when these people are ready to go. What do I know? At the time of sentencing, I\u2019m doing a snapshot. So what do I know?<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: But in Florida, as in most states, it\u2019s too late to turn back the clock. Even the sentencing judge cannot reopen this case decided more than seven years ago.<\/p>\n

Ms. YOUNG<\/strong>: It\u2019s hard. It\u2019s so hard \u2014 the sleepless nights that I have had. And every time I go to see my child, and I have to leave that prison without my baby, it just takes something out of me. It hurts. It hurts so bad.<\/p>\n

O\u2019BRIEN<\/strong>: Unless Florida changes its law, or the governor commutes the sentence, Kenneth Young will die in prison. He will never get out.<\/p>\n

For Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, I\u2019m Tim O\u2019Brien in Tampa, Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: We have a powerful story today about punishment for juveniles who commit crimes. The Supreme Court has thrown out the death penalty for such young people, but in 44 states they can still be sentenced to … More →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":17631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1777,5134,6829,6830,6797,5133],"class_list":["post-2081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crime","tag-criminal-justice","tag-juveniles","tag-life-sentence","tag-parole","tag-prison","topics-law"],"yoast_head":"\nJanuary 30, 2009 ~ Juvenile Life Without Parole | January 30, 2009 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The US is the only Western democracy that still sentences youthful offenders to life in prison without parole for serious crimes. But there is growing resistance to that.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"January 30, 2009 ~ Juvenile Life Without Parole | January 30, 2009 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The US is the only Western democracy that still sentences youthful offenders to life in prison without parole for serious crimes. But there is growing resistance to that.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBS.ReligionEthics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-01-30T15:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-10T18:54:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2009\/01\/thumb01-juvenilelifesentence.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"stephanie winkler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionEthics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ReligionEthics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"stephanie winkler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"stephanie winkler\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/65d8fe1274e21b2bfa76738ef5a2b236\"},\"headline\":\"Juvenile Life Without Parole\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-01-30T15:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-10T18:54:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/\"},\"wordCount\":1949,\"commentCount\":47,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2009\/01\/thumb01-juvenilelifesentence.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"crime\",\"Criminal Justice\",\"Juveniles\",\"life sentence\",\"parole\",\"Prison\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/\",\"name\":\"January 30, 2009 ~ Juvenile Life Without Parole | January 30, 2009 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2009\/01\/thumb01-juvenilelifesentence.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-01-30T15:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-10T18:54:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/65d8fe1274e21b2bfa76738ef5a2b236\"},\"description\":\"The US is the only Western democracy that still sentences youthful offenders to life in prison without parole for serious crimes. But there is growing resistance to that.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2009\/01\/thumb01-juvenilelifesentence.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2009\/01\/thumb01-juvenilelifesentence.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":100},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/\",\"name\":\"Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly\",\"description\":\"An examination of religion's role and the ethical dimensions behind top news headlines.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/search-results\/?q={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/65d8fe1274e21b2bfa76738ef5a2b236\",\"name\":\"stephanie winkler\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/author\/stephanie-winkler\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"January 30, 2009 ~ Juvenile Life Without Parole | January 30, 2009 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS","description":"The US is the only Western democracy that still sentences youthful offenders to life in prison without parole for serious crimes. But there is growing resistance to that.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"January 30, 2009 ~ Juvenile Life Without Parole | January 30, 2009 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS","og_description":"The US is the only Western democracy that still sentences youthful offenders to life in prison without parole for serious crimes. But there is growing resistance to that.","og_url":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/","og_site_name":"Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBS.ReligionEthics\/","article_published_time":"2009-01-30T15:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-10T18:54:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":100,"url":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2009\/01\/thumb01-juvenilelifesentence.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"stephanie winkler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionEthics","twitter_site":"@ReligionEthics","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"stephanie winkler","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/"},"author":{"name":"stephanie winkler","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/65d8fe1274e21b2bfa76738ef5a2b236"},"headline":"Juvenile Life Without Parole","datePublished":"2009-01-30T15:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-10T18:54:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/"},"wordCount":1949,"commentCount":47,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2009\/01\/thumb01-juvenilelifesentence.jpg","keywords":["crime","Criminal Justice","Juveniles","life sentence","parole","Prison"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/","url":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/","name":"January 30, 2009 ~ Juvenile Life Without Parole | January 30, 2009 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2009\/01\/thumb01-juvenilelifesentence.jpg","datePublished":"2009-01-30T15:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-10T18:54:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/65d8fe1274e21b2bfa76738ef5a2b236"},"description":"The US is the only Western democracy that still sentences youthful offenders to life in prison without parole for serious crimes. But there is growing resistance to that.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2009\/01\/30\/january-30-2009-juvenile-life-without-parole\/2081\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2009\/01\/thumb01-juvenilelifesentence.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2009\/01\/thumb01-juvenilelifesentence.jpg","width":200,"height":100},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/","name":"Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly","description":"An examination of religion's role and the ethical dimensions behind top news headlines.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/search-results\/?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/65d8fe1274e21b2bfa76738ef5a2b236","name":"stephanie winkler","sameAs":["http:\/\/"],"url":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/author\/stephanie-winkler\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}