Victory for Fair Sentencing of Children
Last month, Illinois Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Children, Restore Justice Illinois and the Bluhm Legal Clinic celebrated the passage of their House Bill 2741. The Bill eliminates mandatory life-without-parole sentences for youth under 18 at the time of the offense and requires judges to consider specific age-related factors in mitigation at the time of sentencing. It also grants judges a broader set of choices when sentencing children who are transferred to adult court.
The Chicago Council of Lawyers has been a member for the Coalition for Fair Sentencing of Children since 2008 and was an active partner in shaping the legislation through participation in the legislation committee. Gordon Waldron and the Civil Liberties committee drove the Council’s involvement and Matt Daniels is the Council’s long-time representative the Coalition.
The Bill, which was signed into law in late July and goes into effect January 1, 2016, brings Illinois into line with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions recognizing that because youth are “categorically less culpable” than adults, courts must consider how children and adolescents differ from adults in sentencing them. The Bill creates a new section in the general sentencing provisions of Illinois’ Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-4.5)
The new sentencing provisions apply to any youth in the adult criminal court and—in keeping with the Supreme Court—eliminates life sentences without parole. Additionally, the bill enumerates youth-specific mitigation evidence that a court must consider in sentencing. The mitigation factors, again, follow the Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. Alabama and include: age and level of maturity; external pressure from peers, family or negative influence; life circumstance (such as trauma, abuse or neglect); degree of participation or planning by the youth; and potential for rehabilitation.
Finally, the bill empowers judges to depart from mandatory firearm enhancements where appropriate.
We applaud this reform to Illinois’ sentencing laws and congratulate our colleagues on their victory. Rehabilitative and restorative concerns in criminal sentencing are critical to creating a fair and effective justice system.
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