The United States was the only country to condemn minors to life in prison with no chance for parole. In recent years, the Supreme Court has ruled this unconstitutional. Yet this investigation, a collaboration between the Howard Center and PBS NewsHour, found that more than 2,000 so-called juvenile lifers remain in prison in what the court says is cruel and unusual punishment.
Pennsylvania’s About-Face
In the Keystone State more than 500 juveniles served sentences of life without parole. Today many of them have been resentenced, many to time served.