In the wake of Miller and Montgomery: A national view of people sentenced to juvenile life without parole

Objective

The movement to end mass incarceration has largely concentrated on people serving shorter sentences for non-violent offenses. There has been less consideration for the 1 in 7 people in prison serving life sentences, overwhelmingly for violent offenses, including those serving juvenile life without parole (JLWOP). Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions result in a pressing need for data on second chance considerations for JLWOP. This study tracks outcomes of the national population of juvenile lifers.

Data/methods

We cross-reference data to identify the JLWOP population at the time of Miller (N = 2904) to build a demographic profile and track resentencing, release, and mortality statuses. Statistics and data visualization are used to establish national and state-level baselines.

Results

Findings reveal more than 2500 individuals have been resentenced and more than 1000 have been released. There is notable state variation in the number of JLWOP sentences, the extent to which JLWOP is still allowed, sentence review mechanisms, and percentage of juvenile lifers released.

Conclusions/implications

The present study provides an important foundation for subsequent work to examine equity in the implementation of Miller and Montgomery within and across states, and to study reentry of an aging population that has spent critical life stages behind bars.