California

This week the California Assembly is likely to vote on SB 399, a bill that would provide review and the possibility of parole for juveniles serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole.

We need your help. Please call your Assembly Member today and ask them to support SB 399. A script is provided below. If you don't know who your representative is, click here to find out.

The Supreme Court Monday issued a 5 to 4 ruling that sentencing a juvenile to life without parole for a non-homicide offense violates the 8th Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Monday's ruling in Graham v. Florida will affect 129 cases around the nation, 77 of which are in Florida. The remaining cases are in Louisiana (17), Iowa (6), California (4), Mississippi (2), Nebraska (1), South Carolina (1), Delaware (1), Virginia (8), Nevada (5), Oklahoma (1), and the Federal System (6).

In the case concerning Terrance Graham, age 16 at the time of his original offense, the Court was asked to determine the constitutionality of a life without parole sentence for a probation violation that included a new, violent crime.

"A new law aimed at reducing the state’s inmate population took effect yesterday and had an immediate effect in San Diego County, where about 260 nonviolent offenders were released," the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. California must reduce its prison population by 6,500 inmates as part of the state's newly revised guidelines.

“The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed appeals by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Republican legislators of a federal court order to reduce the state's overcrowded prison population by some 40,000 inmates within two years,” Reuters reported. “The high court's decision to dismiss the appeals for lack of jurisdiction occurred as part of a long-running legal battle over California's 33 adult prisons and their often-criticized medical care for inmates.”

On January 11, The California Assembly’s Public Safety Committee passed SB399, which replaces juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences with parole review after sentences of 10 or more years for all youth currently serving JLWOP sentences. The bill requires that youth demonstrate their efforts in rehabilitation before they are eligible for resentencing, and no individual can be released before serving at least 25 years.  The bill will now be considered by the Assembly Appropriations Committee and then by the full Assembly.