Life without parole: Too harsh for juveniles?

Tough laws hailed by some
Americans believe in stiff punishment. But U.S. courts long applied a more forgiving standard when the accused was a juvenile.

Then in the late 1980s and early 1990s, alarm over violent youth crime set off widespread fears. In state after state, lawmakers and prosecutors decided to get tough.

Many states began requiring that juveniles accused of first-degree murder be tried as adults. To show they meant business, lawmakers mandated stiffer punishments.

Today, inmates in 39 states and a federal prison are serving life without parole for crimes they committed as youngsters. Five states — Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Michigan, Florida and California — account for two-thirds of the cases documented by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Tougher laws were applauded by prosecutors and victims’ advocates as necessary tools to fight crime and protect the public.

“If they can do these kinds of crimes, then they’ve got to face the punishment,” says Maggie Elvey, a California activist whose husband, Ross, was beaten to death in 1993 by two teens, ages 15 and 16.

“My theory is when Ross can walk the face of the Earth again, that’s when you can get out,” Elvey says.

But the sharp rise in juvenile violence that the new laws were meant to fight never came. Now some question whether the tougher approach went too far.

“There are probably many cases where I’d say, ‘Yes, lock them up and throw away the key,”’ said Linda J. Collier, a dean at Delaware County Community College in Media, Pa., among those who called for stiffer juvenile sentences. “But there are probably other cases where that kid, if you look into his eyes, if you look into his soul, you can say yes, they can be rehabilitated.”

But how to do that? Should life without parole be eliminated for all juvenile offenders or only for some of them? What should the alternative be?

Life sentence without firing a shot
The questions get harder when they are applied to real lives rather than abstracts.

Addolfo Davis was only 14, but he’d already known plenty of trouble — the child of a Chicago crack addict, he’d been arrested for shoplifting, robbery and other offenses starting when he was 10. Then, in October 1990, Davis joined two other teens — one 16, the other 18 — in something far worse.

The trio, all carrying guns, headed to the third-floor apartment of a rival drug dealer, and when it opened, pushed inside.

One of the men inside knocked Davis’ gun away and ran. But Davis’ companions began shooting, killing two and wounding two others.

After he was arrested, Davis was transferred to adult court, in part because of his prior record. When he was convicted of murder — found accountable although he hadn’t fired a shot — the law made it clear he would be sentenced to life. Today, he is 31.

“Gun towers, bars, walls, lock downs, hand cuffs, visits, letters, collect calls,” he wrote for an assignment in a prison ministry class two years ago. “This is all I know.”

MORE FROM CRIME & COURTS

Crime & courts Section Front

Police: Family helping cop-killings suspect Shooting re-opens Huckabee's clemency record Man charged with killing wife, 2 daughters Competency hearing begins in Smart case Prisoner pulls gun on guards, escapes Ark. officer who Tasered girl, 10, is fired Ex-Ohio autoworker tried for 27,900 deaths Cops: Sharpton daughter said she was in rush 3 boys held in attacks on redheads Man arrested in Salvation Army kettle theft Crime & courts Section Front   Add Crime & courts headlines to your news reader: