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Thrown Away: Juvenile Lifers

Human Rights Watch has issued a report slamming states that jail juvenile murderers for life without parole, among them, Colorado.

Forty-six people sentenced as juveniles in Colorado will spend the rest of their lives in prison without the possibility of parole, a sentence that is cruel, unfair and unnecessary, a report says. Human Rights Watch, a New York-based group, will release a highly critical study today called "Thrown Away: Children Sentenced to Life Without Parole in Colorado."

Colorado law requires judges to impose life without parole on children as young as 12 if they commit first-degree murder. International human rights law bars that practice, as well as the death penalty, and recognizes that the purpose of punishment is deterrence, retribution and rehabilitation, the report says.

"This issue of sentencing juveniles to life without parole is clearly prohibited by human rights law and it's astonishing the United States still practices this when 133 counties around the world don't, and in fact never have," said Alison Parker, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch.

Colorado lawmakers are considering a bill to end the practice, but after opposition from several district attorneys at a hearing Thursday, it's been put on hold. There's more in this 1997 report, High Country Lockup:

Too many children are being held prisoner in Colorado, and as a
result they live in crowded conditions that are sometimes unsafe and frequently devoid of activities that would prepare them to be useful citizens when they are released. One institution is so bad it is operating under a court order. Another, a private institution with children from several states, so appalled officials from Idaho that it withdrew its inmates. These are among the highlights of our examination of juvenile detention in Colorado, a state whose snowcapped mountains and crisp air offers an image that is too often belied by its institutions.

< Rumsfeld Avoids Visiting Germany Due to Lawsuit Naming Him | Churchill: Melee at Colorado Regents Meeting >
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    Re: Thrown Away: Juvenile Lifers (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Feb 04, 2005 at 07:30:40 AM EST
    This is so tragic. Teach the kid a lesson.. stick him in a cell and forget about him...He will have to fight to stay alive, or kill. The chances of redeeming his good qualities is slim to none.....

    Re: Thrown Away: Juvenile Lifers (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Feb 04, 2005 at 07:38:56 AM EST
    So the rats will never stop the mass murder of kids in this so called nation of laws until the people stop the rats once and for all. and yes i know that many of the young people have done evil and the question people should be asking is why?

    Re: Thrown Away: Juvenile Lifers (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Feb 04, 2005 at 08:12:15 AM EST
    Whether the offender is juvenile or not is less relevant than this: Are they an ongoing danger to society? if the answer is yes, then they should be in for life. Mind you, answering that question is not easy.

    Re: Thrown Away: Juvenile Lifers (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Feb 04, 2005 at 11:02:21 AM EST
    I guess I look at this a little differently. To me, letting these killers live is a mercy. Rather than being executed, they get to live the rest of their natural lives. Every day, they should thank G-d for sparing their lives and beg forgiveness for the lives they took.

    Re: Thrown Away: Juvenile Lifers (none / 0) (#5)
    by jondee on Fri Feb 04, 2005 at 11:02:26 AM EST
    "Are they an ongoing danger to society?" - The questions irrelevant when its without parole. Nice little vindictive sadists,you dog-fearin heartland republicans - guess the thrill of Abu Ghraib only lasts so long.

    Re: Thrown Away: Juvenile Lifers (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Feb 04, 2005 at 04:20:56 PM EST
    THIS IS NOT NEWS TO ME. OUR PRISONS OUR FULL OF THROW AWAY YOUNG MEN AND BOYS, WHO IN MANY CASES ONLY COMMITTED ONE MISTAKE, BUT ARE PAYING WITH SENTENCES OF 15 OR 20 YEARS. IN MY OPINION, YOU MIGHT AS WELL GIVE THEM THE NEEDLE. WITHOUT A DOUBT THERE LIVES ARE RUINED.