New Case Study on Juvenile Life Without Parole
Guest blogger Erin Smith of the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute posts today on a new report chronicling the domestic campaign to end the sentence of “juvenile life without parole” (JLWOP). Writes Erin:
In the United States, what role do human rights frameworks and strategies play in changing domestic policy? What does it mean to do “human rights work” in the U.S.? And how does conceiving of domestic social justice advocacy issues in human rights terms add value? Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute has released a case study exploring these questions in the context of efforts to end the practice of sentencing children to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The case study is based on interviews with a number of leading advocates and experts working on the issue.
Juvenile life without parole—or “JLWOP,” as it is often called—has been universally condemned in international human rights instruments, and the United States is the only country in the world to allow the practice. A number of advocates, including private attorneys, academics, and advocates focused on human rights, criminal justice, racial equality, and children’s rights, have been working across the U.S. to bring an end to the practice. They have applied a broad range of human rights strategies in their work, and they have met with success in recent years, through both courts and legislatures.
The case study describes and provides examples of each of the following human rights strategies at work against JLWOP: (1) citing to foreign and international practice, both in courts and with policymakers and the media, (2) challenging JLWOP in regional and international forums, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and U.N. treaty bodies, (3) documenting the scale, scope, and racial disparities in the imposition of JLWOP in the U.S., and, in more personal terms, describing its impacts on individuals, families, and communities, (4) reframing JLWOP as an issue of children’s rights, fairness, dignity, and redemption, rather than merely a juvenile justice problem, (5) working with crime victims and family members of crime victims, and (6) talking with incarcerated individuals about human rights and their relevance to JLWOP.
In the past ten years, these human rights strategies have played an important role in challenging states’ use of JLWOP. Human rights have contributed to increased media attention on the issue, two U.S. Supreme Court decisions limiting the practice, and legislative changes at the state level. Using human rights standards and strategies has also had the additional benefit of helping advocates to identify new partners and to build new coalitions and alliances, including with faith-based groups and victims’ groups. These strategies and frameworks will continue to play a role as advocates advance their work on this issue in the coming years.
Looking beyond juvenile life without parole, we hope that this case study will provide advocates with a better view of the value that human rights can provide in supporting and advancing domestic social justice advocacy in the United States.