Thursday 13 October 2005

Life without Parole for Child Offenders in the United States

42 US states have laws allowing for offenders under the age of 18 to be sentenced to jail for life with no possibility of parole.

A report by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said such prisoners - numbering at least 2,225 in the US - must have access to parole processes. The 157-page report, The Rest of Their Lives: Life without Parole for Child Offenders in the United States, is the first national study examining the practice of trying children as adults and sentencing them to life in adult prisons without the possibility of parole.

The report says that in the rest of the world the punishment is largely outlawed. there are no more than 12 young offenders serving life without parole. The practice is outlawed in many countries and by international law, under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The US and Somalia are the only two countries that have not ratified the treaty, the rights groups said.

archives...

the GENOCIDE of native americans

the LYNCHING of black citizens

the compulsory STERILIZATION of "undesirables"

TORTURE as foreign policy

and....

"in our names"



plus...

MP3 Bush RNC 2004 Sheep Pen Mix

"I believe America is called to lead the cause of terror in the new century."

...via Truthful Translations of Political Speech
("What they really meant when they said that.")