John Howard Association of Illinois

Reforming Illinois' Juvenile Life Sentences

>>  February 13, 2008: MEDIA ALERT

The Illinois Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Children, of which the John Howard Association of Illinois is a member, today released a report on Illinois' juvenile lifers. The report is the result of two years of research and interviews of most of Illinois' juvenile lifers. To read the press release related to the report, please click here. Download the report here or visit the Coalition's website for more information.

For more information, please click here for a list of selected Coalition members and their contact information.

>>  February 11-12, 2008: (New York City) Shaena Fazal, Director of the Association’s Long Term Prisoner Policy Project and Malcolm C. Young participate in a “National Convening” on Juvenile Life without Parole Sentences called by the Open Society Institute to review strategies to provide relief for the approximately 2,400 American prisoners sentenced to serve life without parole in prison for crimes in which they were involved before their 18th birthday. The meeting is attended by human rights and child advocates and children’s lawyers. Illinois, one of first half dozen states to attempt to modify life sentences for children, is well represented.

>>  January 10, 2008

Representative Robert Molaro (D-Chicago), today introduced House Bill 4384 which will allow periodic review of life sentences for juveniles. For more information on the bill, click here. To download the bill click here or visit www.ilga.gov.

Click here for a summary of national attention to the issue of juveniles sentenced to life in prison.

>>  December 3, 2007: New Sentencing Hearing granted to juvenile lifer Marshan Allen

Chicago Tribune reporter Gary Marx covers recent relief granted to Marshan Allen a 15-year old accomplice and first time offender sentenced to life in prison. The Association participated in drafting an amicus brief in support of Allen's case. Read the article here.

>>  November 27, 2007: Chicago Tribune addresses juvenile serving life without parole in Illinois

Reporter Gary Marx highlights the issue in the Chicago Tribune article.

>>  September 7, 2007: Juveniles Serving Life Without Parole in Illinois

Chicago Public Radio produced and aired a story this morning about juveniles serving life without parole in this state and the debate that surrounds the issue. The report contained an interview with Marshan Allen, a 15 year old juvenile accomplice who was sentenced to a mandatory sentence of life without parole. To hear the story, please click here.

>>  August 17, 2007

Possible Relief for a Juvenile Accomplice Serving Life in Prison: The Case of Charles Green

A Cook County Judge grants a new sentencing hearing to a man who was sentenced to mandatory life in prison for a crime he was accountable for when he was 16-years old. Read the August 16, 2007 Chicago Tribune article here and more about John Howard Association's work on ending life without parole for juveniles here.

HB1695: John Howard Association of Illinois speaks out for prisoners sentenced to life with no hope of parole, ever, for crimes they committed before their 18th birthday. Illinois State Representative Molaro introduces H. B. 1695; read Malcolm Young’s written testimony in support of the bill: “We are here to solve a problem;” see the John Howard Association of Illinois’s Fact Sheet and Reasons to Support H. B. 1695.