By Rebekah Allen
The Advocate
BATON ROUGE, La. — A bill that was initially written to reduce juvenile life without parole sentences in Louisiana was amended to eliminate the sentence entirely on Wednesday.
The amended measure passed the state Senate floor on a 22-13 vote, but is facing a more difficult path to victory in the House, with opponents who are concerned about the threat of offering parole opportunities to inmates convicted of violent and heinous crimes.
Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, sponsored Senate Bill 16, which was intended to offer parole eligibility after 30 years to about 300 inmates who are serving life without the possibility of parole for crimes committed while they were teens. SB16 is part of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ criminal justice revamp package.
Claitor’s bill would have removed the option to prospectively sentence juveniles to life without parole unless it was a first-degree conviction.
But state Sen. Danny Martiny, R-Metairie, took it a step further. He amended the bill to allow for parole consideration after 25 years instead of 30. His amendment also eliminated the hearing that district attorneys must use in juvenile cases that determines whether the youth is so irredeemably depraved that they are deserving of being denied any opportunity for release.
Without that additional hearing, there is no way for a juvenile to receive a life without parole sentence.
But eliminating the sentence on the front end doesn’t mean that these criminals would be guaranteed release one day. It would offer them the opportunity for parole consideration, if they meet behavioral benchmarks, and only after serving 25 years. Ultimately, the Parole Board would make the final call.
Claitor said the amendment answers an important moral question: how do you determine at age 16 whether a criminal is irredeemable? “How do you declare them one of the ‘worst of the worst’ at the beginning?” he said.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that life without parole sentences for youths has to be “rare and uncommon” and reserved for the “worst of the worst.”
But children advocacy groups argue that the harsh sentence is used too frequently for Louisiana’s juveniles, while stressing that it’s an impossible determination to make at such a young age while a teen’s brain is still developing.
Aaron Clark-Rizzio, executive director of Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, applauded the bold amendment.
“With this vote, the Senate has decided to end death-in-prison sentences for children once and for all – a decision that will bring us into full compliance with the Supreme Court’s rulings and finally provide clarity in the court’s and people’s lives,” he said in an email. “We urge the House to now put this issue to rest.”
The Legislature is under pressure this year to pass some change to the current system, because the state is in violation of a pair of Supreme Court rulings.
One court ruling, Miller v. Alabama found that life without the possibility of parole for juveniles was considered cruel and unusual punishment and could only be used for the rare, incorrigible cases of juvenile convictions. A subsequent decision Montgomery v. Louisiana found that the prohibition on life sentences for juveniles should be applied retroactively.
Voting to eliminate juvenile life without parole sentences (22): President Alario, Sens. Allain, Barrow, Bishop, Boudreaux, Carter, Chabert, Claitor, Colomb, Cortez, Hewitt, Johns, LaFleur, Luneau, Martiny, Mills, Morrell, Morrish, Peterson, G. Smith, J. Smith and Ward.
Voting against SB16 (13): Sens. Appel, Donahue, Erdey, Fannin, Gatti, Lambert, Milkovich, Mizell, Peacock, Perry, Thompson, Walsworth and White.
Not Voting (3): Sens. Long, Riser and Tarver
Total -- 3
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©2017 The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.