Reducing Transfer to the Adult System
This memo describes reforms and provides model legislation aimed at reducing the number of children transferred to adult court by increasing judicial oversight over the transfer decision and reducing the pathways to adult court.
People v. Contreras
The California Supreme Court clarified that a sentence need not exceed life expectancy to deprive a juvenile nonhomicide offender of the requisite meaningful opportunity for release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation, remanding a 50-year and a 58-year sentence for resentencing.
State ex rel. Carr v. Wallace
The Missouri Supreme Court has granted relief as to a life-without-parole-for-50-years sentence, explaining that the sentence was “the harshest penalty other than death available under a mandatory sentencing scheme,” and that the jury had no opportunity to consider youth.
Davis v. State
The Wyoming Supreme Court has held that there is a presumption against life without parole for juvenile offenders, and that such a sentence may be imposed only if the state proves beyond a reasonable doubt that a juvenile offender is irreparably corrupt.