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COVER STORY

LOCKED
AWAY
FOR
Cedric Rue with his mother around
LIFE
the time he killed Michael Decker

Should juveniles be sentenced to life


in prison without the possibility of parole?
BY JOE BUBAR

14 UPFRONT • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM
WATCH A VIDEO Opinion: Abolish Life Without Parole
at UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

C The Eighth Amendment:


edric Rue was 16 years old
when he committed the
crime that put him in prison
for the rest of his life. Excessive bail shall
It was 1998, and Rue was
struggling with drugs and alcohol. One not be required, nor
day, he was camping with some friends
in Arizona. He and another teenager shot excessive fines imposed,
and killed a 41-year-old named Michael
Decker. Rue was tried as an adult and nor cruel and unusual
found guilty of first-degree murder. The
judge sentenced him to life without the punishments inflicted.
possibility of parole. That meant he’d die
behind bars. His friend, William Najar, In recent years, there’s been a But there’s been a widespread
also got life without parole. growing trend away from sentencing movement on the state level toward
“I hardly understood what was minors to life without the possibility of banning that as well. Ten years ago, only
happening every time we went to court,” parole. The Supreme Court has ruled five states prohibited life without parole
says Rue, who is incarcerated at Red Rock that life without parole sentences for for juveniles. Today, 25 states and the
Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona. people under 18 violate the Eighth District of Columbia ban it outright (see
“When we got locked up, I knew we Amendment’s prohibition against “cruel map, below). But Arizona, where Rue
were going to prison—we deserved to for and unusual punishments.” The Court’s is serving time, is one of several states
what we did. But I didn’t think it would ruling cites scientific research that the pushing back against the trend.
be for the rest of my life. It felt like I was teenage brain isn’t yet fully developed. Many criminal-justice reform
in a haze or The Twilight Zone.” The ban only applies to mandatory advocates argue it’s time to do away
Now 39 years old, Rue has spent more sentences—ones a judge is required by with all life-without-parole sentences
of his life in prison than outside of it. He’s law to give to an offender for a particular for juvenile offenders.
one of more than 1,400 people in the U.S. crime. They usually are given in murder “It’s an inhumane, unthinkable thing
serving life without parole sentences for cases. The Court left the door open for we do,” says Heather Renwick, legal
offenses they committed as juveniles, judges to still sentence juveniles to life director of the Campaign for the Fair
according to the criminal-justice reform without parole after taking into account Sentencing of Youth, “that we throw kids
group the Sentencing Project. their specific situation. into prison and say they are irredeemable

STATES THAT BAN JUVENILE LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE


TARAPATTA/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (BACKGROUND); COURTESY OF EMILY RUE (CEDRIC RUE); JIM MCMAHON (MAP)

WA

MT MI ME
ND
MN VT
OR NH MA
ID
SD WI NY
WY RI
IA PA NJ CT
NE
NV OH DE
UT IL IN
CO WV VA MD
CA KS MO KY
DC
NC
TN
AZ OK
NM AR SC

MS AL GA

AK TX LA LIFE-WITHOUT-PAROLE
SENTENCES
FL FOR JUVENILES
HI ALLOWED
Alaska and Hawaii are not drawn to scale BANNED
or placed in their proper geographic positions. SOURCE: The Sentencing Project

MARCH 14, 2022 15


and that we don’t believe that they it easier for minors to be sent to adult ruling. That allowed inmates who had
deserve a second chance.” courts for serious crimes. And more already been sentenced to mandatory
But others see things differently. judges sentenced juveniles to longer life without parole as juveniles to appeal
That includes some family members of stays in prison. That included life their sentences. Rue appealed, but his
victims murdered by teenagers. without the possibility of parole. Critics appeals in state court were denied. A
“Dangerous people need have charged that Black court said the judge had taken into
to be identified and separated
safely, and, if necessary, 1,465 juveniles were much more
likely than White juveniles
account his age and other factors before
sentencing him. He’s now fighting his
permanently from society,” NUMBER to receive these sentences sentence in federal court.
of prisoners in
says Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins, the U.S. serving when judges had the ability
co-founder of the National life without parole to choose. What About the Victims?
for crimes they
Organization of Victims of In the early 2000s, juvenile Victims’ rights groups argue that in the
committed
Juvenile Murderers. She says as juveniles. crime rates fell. Authorities debates about what’s fair to juvenile
it doesn’t matter how old once again began to rethink offenders, the victims and their families
someone is.
44%
PERCENTAGE
their approach. A growing
body of scientific research
deserve more attention. Bishop-Jenkins
co-founded the National Organization
Teens vs. Adults decline in the found that the areas of the of Victims of Juvenile Murderers in
The debate about whether the number of people brain that deal with decision 2006. Sixteen years before that, a
serving juvenile
justice system should treat life without parole making, impulse control, and 16-year-old named David Biro shot and
children and teens differently since 2012. consequences are often not killed Bishop-Jenkins’s pregnant sister
SOURCE: THE
from adults has a long history SENTENCING PROJECT
fully developed until people and her sister’s husband.
in the U.S. The first juvenile reach their 20s. Research also Biro was sentenced to life without
court began hearing cases in 1899 in showed that adolescents are more likely the possibility of parole. Bishop-Jenkins
Cook County, Illinois. It was part of an to respond to interventions and grow out says she fears what might happen if

LEWIS HINE/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS (1910); RICHARD ROSS/JUVENILE-IN-JUSTICE.COM (JDC)


effort to stop young children from being of delinquent behavior. he were to ever be set free. That’s why
sent to adult prisons and jails. In response, the Supreme she believes that courts
The model then spread across the Court ruled in 2005 that the Victims’ rights should still have the option
country. By 1945, every state and the death penalty for juveniles groups say to sentence juveniles to life
federal government had put a similar was unconstitutional. Then without parole.
system in place. Judges were trained in 2012, in Miller v. Alabama,
dangerous “It doesn’t have anything
to use methods such as probation, the Court barred mandatory
offenders must to do with age,” she
repayment to victims, and occasionally life sentences without the be locked away says. “It has to do with
jail time to help reform young offenders. possibility of parole for regardless the dangerousness of the
But the 1980s and 1990s brought anyone who committed of age. individual person.”
a reversal in thinking. During those a crime before turning 18. Renwick, of the
decades, the crack-cocaine epidemic Justice Elena Kagan’s majority opinion Campaign for the Fair Sentencing
hit cities around the nation hard. At the cited adolescents’ “diminished culpability of Youth, disagrees. She says it’s
same time, violent crimes committed and heightened capacity for change.” unreasonable to have judges try to
by youth surged. More states passed In 2016, the Court made this standard predict what type of adult a young
“automatic transfer laws,” which made apply to sentences given before its person is going to become in the future.

KEY DATES
IN JUVENILE JUSTICE
1899 1980s
Juvenile Court Rise in Juvenile Crime

The first juvenile After remaining relatively stable


court is established throughout the century, juvenile
Juvenile court in 1910:
in Illinois. By 1925, crime rates increase drastically
An 8-year-old is charged with
48 states have their during the decade. The upturn
stealing a bicycle in St. Louis.
own juvenile justice leads to calls for strong action
systems. to curb the rise in crime.

16 UPFRONT • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM
taken away from me and [his family].
Intellectually, I could say they should
be given an opportunity to have parole.
Emotionally, it’s hard to tell.”

‘Capacity to Change’
Though Rue is still hoping for a second
chance, others have already benefited
from the changes in law. Since 2012, the
number of people serving life without
parole for crimes committed as juveniles
has declined by almost 50 percent. Close
to 800 people given these sentences
have returned home from prison.
Marshan Allen is one of them.
Research shows He was sentenced to mandatory life
that adolescents’ without parole in 1996. He was 15 at
brains aren’t fully the time, and his sentence related to
developed, so teens his involvement in a gang shooting in
don’t have the same
Chicago. While in custody, Allen began
ability to weigh risk.
trying to turn his life around. He took
law classes and received a law certificate
Instead, she says, we should allow a inmates and is part of a peer in 2001. He filed several
parole board to make a judgment on how mentorship program. ‘No one is appeals for resentencing,
someone has matured when that time “I used to feel like I who they but each one was rejected.
comes. During a parole hearing, inmates belonged in here. Now I don’t were when Then in 2014, he got a
who’ve already served a certain amount feel that way anymore,” Rue
they were break. Illinois began allowing
of time in prison have a chance to argue says. “I just want the chance inmates who’d been given
that they’re ready for an early release. to get out to try and prove
a teenager.’ mandatory life-without-parole
“It makes more sense that we consider that we’re not the same. That we were sentences as juveniles the opportunity
a person’s growth on the back end,” she just stupid kids.” to appeal. Allen typed up a petition and
says, “as opposed to trying to predict Melissa Nottingham was once filed it in court right away. Two years
which 16- and 17-year-olds will make engaged to Decker, the man Rue shot. later, after nearly 25 years behind bars,
that growth.” At the time of the sentence, she says he was allowed to walk free.
Rue has been transferred between she thought it was fair. She called it Now, Allen advocates for criminal
multiple prisons and spent time in “a cruel sentence on a cruel crime.” justice reform as the policy director of
solitary confinement. He says he’s But she has since softened her position. the nonprofit Restore Justice. He says
trying to show that he has changed. “I struggle with the idea that they he’s living proof that people shouldn’t
While in custody, he received his G.E.D. don’t have the opportunity for parole, be judged by “their worst mistakes.”
He’s also taken rehabilitation classes, because of the fact that your mind “Children especially have the
such as a victim’s impact class and a isn’t developed at 16,” she says. “On greatest capacity to change,” Allen says.
class called Courage for a Change. He’s the flip side, I think about how Mike “No one is who they were when they
also teaching a painting class to other brought a lot of joy and what was were a teenager.” •
*the equivalent of a high school diploma

1990s 2005 2012 TODAY


‘Tough on Crime’ Roper v. Simmons Miller v. Alabama A New Direction?

New federal “tough on The Supreme Court The Supreme Court bans Some states are moving
crime” laws push states eliminates the death penalty mandatory life without parole away from a tough-on-
to adopt harsher sentences for juvenile offenders, sentences for juveniles. A crime approach to juvenile
for serious offenders. One saying it violates the 8th second case four years later offenders, instead stressing
result is many more juveniles Amendment ban on “cruel extends this protection to treatment, education, and
being tried as adults. and unusual punishments.” those already sentenced. rehabilitation.

MARCH 14, 2022  17

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