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Kenneth Young during his interview. He was 15
years old when he recieved four consecutive life sentences for armed
robbery. From "15 to Life: Kenneth's Story."
(Courtesy of HitPlay Productions/PBS)
The United States is the only country in the world that
routinely sentences juveniles to life in prison. Kenneth Young was 15
when he received four consecutive life sentences for a series of armed
robberies. He has spent more than a decade behind bars, a U.S. Supreme
Court decision could set him free. Director Nadine Pequeneza talks about Young’s case, the subject of her documentary “15 to Life: Kenneth’s Story.” She’s joined by Mishi Faruqee, juvenile justice policy strategist at the ACLU. The documentary airs August 4 on PBS.
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Comments [5]
Your guest was wrong. New York
most certainly does have life without parole sentencing. And it has been
imposed on young people. I have a client who is right now serving life
without parole. He was 18 when he was sentenced and has been in for
nearly 17 years. There appears to be no way out for him. He has lost
every appeal and has been denied habeas corpus relief in federal court.
Before trial he waas offered a plea bargain 0f 20 years to life, meaning
he would have had the opportunity for parole board review after serving
20 years. He turned it down. I believe he did so because of the
impaired judgment typically exhibited by teenagers. After trial the
judge imposed the life without parole sentence. While it must be
acknowledged my client had serious behavior problems at that time in his
life, I believe the judge imposed the harsh sentence he did in some
significant measure as punishment for my young client's exercise of his
right to go to trial. My client's only hope is a grant of clemency by
the governor which reduces his sentence from life without parole to one
that allows review by a parole board at 20 or 25 years. Unhappily, this
governor has never granted clemency to anyone. See attached article. So,
we wait for the next governor and hope for the best.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/nyregion/waiting-for-clemency-from-cuomo.html?_r=0
Jul. 31 2014 01:27 PM
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Thank goodness these cases are
beginning to get some attention. I fear for my teenage sons, and even
more so for their African American friends, as they navigate the city in
search of their basketball and ultimate Frisbee games. The
privatization of prisons is a great point, lk.
Jul. 31 2014 01:07 PM
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This is ridiculous--what a waste
of so many people's lives. How did it get this way? Did these
practices/policies come out of the "superpredator" scare? (When was
that, anyway?)
Jul. 31 2014 12:59 PM
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Perhaps the judge is getting a kick back from the prison if it is a private prison like that judge in Pennsylvania.
Privatizing prisons brings the prison lots of money. Talk about what it is costing tax payers for this one prisoner to spend all these years in prison. How much cheaper if the effort went in to rehabilitate.
Privatizing prisons brings the prison lots of money. Talk about what it is costing tax payers for this one prisoner to spend all these years in prison. How much cheaper if the effort went in to rehabilitate.
Jul. 31 2014 12:52 PM
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What percentage of these young men serving life are african-american?
Jul. 31 2014 12:48 PM
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