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Tell Nebraska To End Juvenile Life Without Parole
  1. Signatures
    143 out of 200
    Petitioning
    1. The Governor of NE (+ 2 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • The Governor of NE
      • The NE State Senate
      • The NE State House
  2. Created By
    Elizabeth Renter
    Clayton, NC
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

 

On the heels of a landmark Supreme Court decision this spring, progressive lawmakers are scrambling across the country to challenge the practice of sentencing juveniles to life in prison. In Nebraska, State Senator Brenda Council is hoping the SOCTUS ruling will propel her second attempt at legislation banning juvenile life without parole. She knows her view on the matter is unpopular in her state, having pulled a similar measure out of the lineup last year when she knew it was doomed to fail. But, she’s committed to the cause and so are several groups in the state—ready to step out as leaders in juvenile justice reform.

This past week, Sen. Council and local organizations including the Nebraska Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Youth and the Voices For Children In Nebraska gathered to discuss how best to promote their agenda, how to get supporters in a state that is largely attached to a sort of no mercy ideology, even among juveniles. There’s no doubt the battle will be an uphill climb, though some pressure from activists across the country and Change.org members could certainly help.

The Nebraska state prison system is relatively small—with an average daily population somewhere around 4,500. And of these thousands of inmates, only 26 were sentenced to life in prison for offenses committed as youth. Nebraska is one of the few states that allows children as young as 13 to be sentenced to life without parole, kids arguably not even old enough to understand the gravity of homicide, let alone make a conscious, rational decision to commit it.

 While opponents of this and similar measures will undoubtedly hear “Free all the killer kids!”—that isn’t hardly what this is about. This is about giving children an opportunity to show their rehabilitation by providing them a chance at parole. This isn’t a guarantee of future release, merely the hope that if you do right and learn from your mistakes you will have a chance to show such progress to a parole board. Ultimately, it would be the parole board’s choice to grant release or withhold it.

Show your support for Nebraskans who want to end juvenile life without parole by signing this petition and forwarding it to your friends.  As Douglas A. Berman points out over at Sentencing Law and Policy, Nebraska is a unicameral system. This means Council will only need to convince 29 out of 49 Nebraska lawmakers to pass her bill. Send an email to each of the Nebraska Legislators today. 

Photo Credit: Thomas Beck

 

 

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Juvenile Life Without Parole

Greetings,

I write this letter to express my support for legislation ending the practice of life sentences without parole for juveniles. The United States Supreme Court ruled in Graham v. Florida that such sentences were inappropriate for anything but homicide cases. I believe such sentences, for reasons given by the Supreme Court justices themselves, are unconstitutional regardless of the offense.

When legislation crosses your desk in the coming year, I strongly urge you to ban juvenile life without parole sentences. Though this would reduce prison costs, it goes beyond budgetary concerns and is simply the right thing to do.

People convicted of offenses as children should have the opportunity to prove their rehabilitation at some point regardless of the offense. Justice Kennedy wrote about such life sentences in the majority opinion, “this judgment is not appropriate in light of a juvenile nonhomicide offender’s capacity for change and limited moral culpability.” I argue that a juvenile’s capacity for change and limited moral culpability applies regardless of the offense.

I do not wish to minimize the crimes of juveniles who commit homicide, nor bring any additional suffering to the victim’s families. However, I do believe that all people sentenced to life as children should have the opportunity to show their rehabilitation and “capacity for change” to a parole board at some point in their sentence. This isn’t a guaranteed release, but a reason for hope and a motivator for change in an offender’s life.

Please end juvenile life without parole sentences in Nebraska and do so post haste.

Thank you for your concern in this matter.

[Your name]

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