On October 26, Natalie J. Kraner, senior public interest counsel for the Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest, appeared before the Supreme Court of New Jersey on behalf of amici curiae Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, Incarcerated Children’s Advocacy Network, New Jersey Parents’ Caucus, Transformative Justice Initiative, The Beyond the Blindfold of Justice Project, and other formerly and currently incarcerated youthful offenders, in support of appeals by two incarcerated youth who are challenging their respective sentences of 30 and 42 years of imprisonment without parole as unconstitutional.
The center argues that New Jersey’s 30-year mandatory minimum sentence with no parole for homicide offenses does not take into account the factors at play when the defendant is a juvenile at the time of the crime and that young people who commit serious offenses are not given a meaningful opportunity to seek release once they can demonstrate their maturation and rehabilitation.
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court in Miller v. Alabama held that it was unconstitutional to give mandatory life sentences without parole when the defendant committed the crime while a juvenile. The Court recognized that “children are constitutionally different from adults for purposes of sentencing” because of their “diminished culpability and greater prospects for reform.” Despite this recognition, New Jersey still treats young offenders the same as adults by subjecting them to a 30-year mandatory minimum.
The brief submitted by the center shares numerous stories of formerly incarcerated youth who have been imprisoned for homicide offenses and are now productive members of their communities. Their stories demonstrate the distinct rehabilitative potential of young people. Each of these individuals had histories of violent crime but succeeded in becoming productive and law-abiding citizens following their release from prison.
Social science and scientific research have demonstrated that children are developmentally and neurologically different from adults in ways that make them categorically less culpable. Developments in psychology and brain science show fundamental differences between juvenile and adult minds, supporting the need for more protective procedures for youth facing criminal sentences.
Additionally, racial disparities infect criminal sentencing in general and youth sentencing in particular. According to a new report by The Sentencing Project, New Jersey ranks as the worst state in the nation with respect to racial disparities in its prison population. Black residents are incarcerated at 12.5 times the rate of whites; although Black people make up 13 percent of New Jersey’s population, they make up over 60 percent of the state’s total prison population. The report also shows that the state has the 10th-highest Latinx-to-white racial disparity in the nation. Sentencing patterns are even more racially skewed for young offenders. An investigative report by WNYC in 2016 revealed that in the previous five years, 87.6 percent of minors tried in adult criminal court were Black or Latinx.
“New Jersey needs to stop locking up Black and Brown youth for most of their adult lives without even giving them a chance to show that they have outgrown the circumstances and the mindset that led to their crimes,” Kraner said. “Thirty-year mandatory minimum sentences unconstitutionally deprive people of the opportunity to demonstrate that they have matured into peaceful and productive members of society. Our amicus brief shows that many in fact follow the path of rehabilitation and that all deserve the chance to try to show that they no longer belong behind bars,” she added.
In addition to Kraner, the Lowenstein team includes Stephanie D. Ashley. The team from Rutgers includes Laura Cohen, Elana Wilf, and Tyler Dougherty.
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