A new case filed in Wyoming district court argues that sentencing a man to life in prison without the possibility of parole because of his age is unconstitutional.
Christopher Hicks was 19 years old when he was convicted of aiding and abetting two murders in 2006.
Now Lauren McLane, a law professor at the University of Wyoming, argues that his sentence – life imprisonment without the possibility of parole – violates the state constitution.
Most legal cases involving late adolescents have used neuroscience research from 2004, based on the precedent known as Roper. More recent research shows that the human brain continues to develop well into a person’s twenties. McLane wants the law to follow suit.
“Nobody looked at the new science and applied it. We took Roper’s word, if you will, but so much has changed since then,” she noted. “Science is way ahead of the law and society.”
Other common policies support this, including the minimum age to rent a car at 25 and the end of health insurance requirements for dependents of parents at 26. McLane said she expects this case to go to the Wyoming Supreme Court.
At that level, judges interpret the state’s constitution, which contains unique elements that apply in this case. First, it requires that the criminal code be based on “the humane principles of the Reformation,” she said.
McLane argues that a life sentence without parole for a 19-year-old does not meet this requirement.
“This idea that whatever we do to the people we incarcerate has to be based on reform. That’s not something that’s in the Constitution of the United States. That’s not something that’s in the constitutions of 48 other states. So to me that’s pretty important,” she continued.
Second, Wyoming’s constitution prohibits “cruel or unusual punishment,” unlike the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits a combination of both. McLane added that this could be a lower hurdle.
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Pittsburgh’s only youth correctional facility has reopened, providing trauma-informed care and a safe haven for at-risk young people.
Westmoreland County nonprofit Adelphoi operates Highland Detention at the Shuman Center, providing physical, mental and psychological health services. Karyn Pratt, vice president of marketing and strategy development at Adelphoi, said the facility currently has 12 beds, with more planned.
She emphasized the center’s role in meeting community needs and relieving the burden on the state’s overburdened juvenile justice system.
“We know this service is important because it provides protection for the children and the community,” she said. “It provides an opportunity to give the child a break, stabilize them and assess the services they need as they move to their next placement.”
Pratt said the center also helps address the critical shortage of detention space that has led to overcrowding at the Allegheny County Jail and long-distance transportation for juveniles.
Adelphoi Executive Director Nancy Kukovich stressed that detention is intended as a short-term placement that allows her organization to assist juvenile probation staff in obtaining the information they need to find the best way to help a young person get back on track.
“What does the community need to know? It’s one part of a very broad spectrum of services that are needed for youth,” she said. “And we want there to be very few kids at Highland, because we’ve worked really hard to reduce the number of kids that go through the system.”
She said they have a dozen more beds at their Cambria facility, exclusively for Allegheny County youth, and two spaces for girls in Latrobe, bringing the total capacity to 26.
Kukovich added that they have conducted over 200 interviews and hired about 30 people, but that as more renovations are completed, they will need even more caring employees.
“I think it’s a good job,” she said. “The pay is between $20 and $25, depending on experience. We have some people working there who used to work at Shuman. It’s interesting to hear what they have to say about their previous place of work. And we’ll be looking for more people.”
Alternatives to incarceration are community-based programs that provide supervision, support, and services to youth. These programs also aim to prevent recidivism, ensure court attendance, and allow young people to remain with their families.
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Alabama has the eighth-highest juvenile incarceration rate in the country, and juvenile justice officials say more diversion programs could be the key to turning the tide.
A report from the Sentencing Project describes how programs that help children avoid prison can reduce the likelihood that they will commit crimes.
Richard Mendel, the group’s senior research fellow, said when a young person is arrested, it has lifelong negative effects, often leading to higher dropout rates, lower chances of attending college and lower incomes by age 30.
“The research is making it increasingly clear that expanding and improving diversion – and reducing or hopefully eliminating disparities in diversion – really needs to be a top priority for reform,” Mendel asserted. “If we are ever going to create a juvenile justice system that is fair and effective, keeps communities safe and sets young people up for success.”
The report showed that there are national disparities in participation in key diversion programs and that access is particularly difficult for youth of color. Mendel claimed lack of leadership and weak policies were the main problems.
Despite these challenges, Mendel stressed that there is hope for change and suggested using a data-driven approach to support diversion programs, urging state and local justice systems to expand them and provide the necessary resources, as other countries have done.
“These other countries have seen the evidence, they’ve heard the evidence, and they’ve started to keep more and more of their young people out of the courts; 75%, 80%, 83% of them are now being kept out of the courts, not being included in the court system,” Mendel reported. “We’ve been burying our heads in the sand and we’ve made no improvements so far.”
Youth in diversion programs are 45% less likely to reoffend than youth who go to court. Yet more than half of all juvenile criminal cases end up in court.
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A new report raises alarm about capacity problems in Pennsylvania’s juvenile corrections system, pointing to staff shortages and long wait times for young people awaiting placement.
The report says that five of the 13 juvenile detention centers are used by just five counties and that 57 counties nationwide must compete for space in just six facilities.
Dr. Abigail Wilson, director of child welfare, juvenile justice and educational services at the Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services, said some counties are forced to send children hundreds of miles away to find space in a jail. She noted that more funding could help clear waiting lists and ease the burden on families and communities.
“Funding impacts staffing,” she said, “and it’s difficult to staff some of these facilities because the pay doesn’t quite match the need and you take more risk when you work in a closed juvenile correctional center.”
Wilson added that it is also difficult to get a young person into a probation or “step-down” program, as these struggle with staffing and funding shortages. The report points out that detention is intended to provide “temporary, safe and secure confinement” and is only used when less restrictive alternatives have been considered.
On the other hand, Wilson says Pennsylvania has done a good job of identifying the needs of troubled youth and has a strong commitment to evidence-based assessments and services in the juvenile justice system.
“Currently, our system uses the youth care level assessment to determine the risk of recidivism as well as the appropriate level of care,” she said. “You can very quickly see that placing a youth in a family-like environment is the top priority.”
The report shows that nearly 90 percent of all correctional agencies had moderate to significant difficulties in recruiting and retaining direct staff, with vacancies ranging between 30 and 40 percent.
Wilson said the report contains several recommendations, but key to all of them is addressing the skills shortage through improved funding, “because without highly qualified staff, we cannot effectively run programs or help young people.”
“So if we offer salary increases, a lower junior staff ratio and a reformed training period,” she said, “we can continue to recruit highly qualified employees.”
Alternatives to incarceration are often community-based programs that provide young offenders with supervision, support and therapy while they wait for a court date, and sometimes include working with families, Wilson said.
Disclosure: The Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth & Family Services donates to our fund for coverage of budget policies and priorities, children’s issues, education and social justice. If you would like to help us support news in the public interest, click here.
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