About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


24 Conn. Pub. Int. L.J. 1 (2025)

handle is hein.journals/cpilj24 and id is 1 raw text is: CONNECTICUT PUBLIC INTEREST LAW JOURNAL VOLUME 24 2024-2025 Number 1 A Realistic and Meaningful Opportunity for Release: Recommendations for Parole Review for People Serving Long Sentences for Crimes Committed as Youth TESSA BIALEK* INTRODUCTION In the late 1980s and 1990s, rising crime rates and the myth of the juvenile superpredator led many states to change the way that people were prosecuted and sentenced for crimes they committed under age 18, to devastating effect. The confluence of harsher penalties, mandatory minimum sentences, and easier, and sometimes automatic, transfer from juvenile to adult court, meant that thousands of children across the country received adult sentences for their crimes, often without any consideration of their youth. Over the same period, developmental research began to emerge that demonstrated that the adolescent brain is not yet fully developed and that the psychosocial maturity of youths differs fundamentally from that of adults. Studies confirmed that young people exhibit heightened immaturity, impulsivity, risk taking, and susceptibility to peer pressure. But studies also showed that youths are likely to outgrow criminal behavior, which for young people typically reflects the transient qualities of youth rather than irreparable criminality. In a series of decisions beginning in 2005, the United States Supreme Court, citing this emerging understanding of neurological and psychosocial * Managing Attorney, Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, University of Michigan Law School. This paper benefited enormously from the insights and feedback of many people who generously shared their time, experiences, and expertise, including through numerous interviews and conversations, resource sharing, and feedback on various drafts. In addition to the people acknowledged by name below, I am grateful to others working in the field and studying this topic who offered valuable perspectives and support for this project, including members of the Clearinghouse's Advisory Committee. Without intending to imply their endorsement of this paper or its recommendations, but in order to express my gratitude for the support and feedback that they provided, I thank: Avery Gilbert, Ali Harrington, Callie King-Guffey, Issa Kohler-Hausmann, Sonia Kumar, Deborah LaBelle, Marsha Levick, Margo Schlanger, Rich Sparaco, and Rebecca Turner. I am grateful, too, for patient copyediting from Hannah Juge and Michelle Wolk. All errors are my own.