If America is the land of opportunity and a country that believes in redemption, it doesn't make sense for us to lock up juveniles not accused of murder for life without the chance for parole. Countries that this government condemns regularly, such as Iraq and North Korea, don't do it.

Well, finally the Supreme Court agreed, recently ruling that juveniles sentenced to life for crimes other than murder should have "a meaningful opportunity to obtain release." The ruling passed by a vote of 6 to 3. Justice Anthony Kennedy used the "children are different" rationale in making his decision. Such a punishment is unconstitutional and amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

The decision was based on the case of Terrance Graham, (pictured left) a 23-year-old who was implicated in armed robberies when he was 16 and 17. Graham has been locked up in a Florida prison. Not surprisingly, Florida holds 60 percent of juveniles imprisoned for life for crimes other than murder.

"The state has denied him any chance to later demonstrate that he is fit to rejoin society based solely on a non-homicide crime that he committed while he was a child in the eyes of the law," Justice Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. "This the Eighth Amendment does not permit."

These sentences do not take in to account the situation in to which a child is involuntarily born. Graham was born to drug-addicted parents, according to some reports. It is not unthinkable that someone who commits a crime at 16 or 17 can go to prison, improve themselves and come out and be a normal member of society. That should be the goal for the overwhelming majority of prisoners, but it should especially be the case for juveniles.


The problem is that our prison system and its laws are set up to do nothing more than punish. Prisons across the country have cut programs that allow inmates to get college and high school degrees, learn trades or kick the drug habits that landed them in prison in the first place.These programs allowed those who have paid their debt to society to start anew.

In addition, we need to make it easier for people who have committed crimes to get jobs. Simple things like making it easier to obtain identification, limiting the requirement to disclose certain low-level crimes on job applications and preventing ex-cons from obtaining federal assistance, would probably reduce recidivism rates. The alternative is to wastefully spend money to feed and house these individuals when they commit more crimes because they are still addicted to drugs or cannot obtain legal employment.

The AP writes:

Life sentences with no chance of parole are rare for juveniles tried as adults and convicted of crimes less serious than killing, although roughly three dozen states allow for the possibility of such prison terms. Kennedy said 129 inmates in the United States are serving such terms. Those inmates are in Florida, the federal system and 10 other states -- California, Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia -- according to a Florida State University study that the court supplemented with independent research. More than 2,000 other juveniles are serving life without parole for killing someone. Their sentences are not affected by Monday's decision.

Of course, Justice Clarence Thomas dissented on the decision. "I am unwilling to assume that we, as members of this court, are any more capable of making such moral judgments than our fellow citizens."

That logic is flawed for a number of reasons.

The fact that 60 percent of juveniles serving life sentences for crimes that did not involve murder are incarcerated in Florida shows why it is important for the federal government to be able to step in and right some wrongs. Maybe Florida has taken its "tough on crime" stance too far and removed any chance of rehabilitation for kids so young that they can't drive, drink alcohol or vote.

With the economic crisis that has hit this country, many states are already examining their sentencing policies. We must ask whether locking people up and throwing away the key is the best way to spend our money or solve the problem. If a lack of money can make states rethink punishment and rehabilitation, maybe we should already be looking for alternatives to incarceration.

Ohio State University law professor Douglas Berman told the AP that the ruling may open up appeals for other juveniles serving sentences of 30 to 40 years without the real possibility of parole.

"What the state must do, however, is give defendants like Graham some meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation," Kennedy said.