We have seen in Wisconsin this week two youth sentenced to very long prison sentences – albeit not life without parole – that raises the question of what constitutes effective justice in these tragic situations. Does a 30-40 year sentence really meet the spirit of the Supreme Court’s intent? Should the opportunity for parole come earlier, and if so when? Shouldn’t the fact that one of the youth suffered traumatic brain injury as a younger child be a bigger factor related to culpability? These are questions that will still be asked and we need to find better answers for.
What we do know is that on average across the country, black youth are serving life without parole sentences at a per capita rate that is 10 times that of white youth. In a post “It’s time to talk about the role of race in juvenile justice”, the Campaign for Fair Sentencing of Youth highlights the need to use cases like the Trayvon Martin tragedy to make sure that race is part of our discussions about justice for youth. And, we can’t just talk about these in the context of the more dramatic cases, since every day race plays a role in less evident ways in how we deal with youth. It has been the time to talk about race in juvenile justice for a long time now, but more importantly it’s time to act. To act to change what we can individually, to act collectively to change what we can together, and to make sure that all aspects of our juvenile justice system meet the OJJDP test of “rare, fair, and beneficial”. by Jim Moeser
