Realistic Opportunity for Release Equals Rehabilitation: How the States Must Provide Meaningful Opportunity for Release

Abstract

Childhood bespeaks opportunity, especially as it relates to the passage of time-that is children have more years left ahead than left behind. Yet, opportunity varies from one child to the next depending on their circumstances (psychological, sociological, or otherwise). In Graham v. Florida, the United States Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the sentence of life without parole for juveniles convicted of non-homicide offenses.2 The Graham Court further provided that the States must provide juveniles sentenced to life with a "meaningful opportunity for release." 3 The legal and practical question remains-what amounts to a "meaningful opportunity for release"?