JLWOP Funder Briefings

The USHRF has organized a series of telephonic funder briefings to:

Provide updates from advocates on key legal, communications and legislative issues regarding JLWOP reform
Educate donors about opportunities to fund JLWOP work
Offer a forum for JLWOP donors to share information and discuss strategies to better support these efforts.

USHRF invites any funder who currently supports JLWOP reform work and/or any funder who wants to learn more about this timely and important human rights and social justice issue to participate in these calls.

Abolishing Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP) sentencing is important because it is a clear violation of international human rights standards. The U.S. is the only country in the world to actively apply this sentence to youth. JLWOP also violates other international treaties to which the U.S. is a party, including the Convention Against Torture. JLWOP sentencing is particularly egregious because domestic juvenile justice ideals uphold the belief that youth, even those convicted of a serious crime, deserve the opportunity for rehabilitation and reform.

Upcoming Call

June 16, 2009 from 2:00pm-3:15pm EST

Please email Angela with questions or to RSVP

Agenda

Introductions (5 min)
Remarks by Bryan Stevenson (15 min)
Q & A/discussion (30 min)
Donor exchange and updates (10 min)
Identify info gaps for future calls and strategies to expand support for JLWOP reform (10 min)
Establish Call Calendar and Next Steps (5 min)

Speaker

Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama and Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law filed a petition in the United States Supreme Court asking it to review the sentence of Joe Sullivan, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole in Florida, for an offense committed at age 13 that did not involve a killing. The Court has agreed to address whether Sullivan’s sentence is cruel and unusual punishment. Sullivan, who is mentally disabled, was accused by an older boy of committing a sexual battery when they broke into a home together. The older boy received a short sentence in juvenile detention, but Joe was tried as an adult, and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Sullivan is one of 73 juveniles in the U.S. sentenced to LWOP for crimes committed at age 13 or 14.

Mr. Stevenson’s representation of poor people and death row prisoners in the deep south has won him national recognition. He and his staff have been successful in overturning dozens of capital murder cases and death sentences where poor people have been unconstitutionally convicted or sentenced. Mr. Stevenson has been recognized as one of the top public interest lawyers in the country. His efforts to confront bias against the poor and people of color in the criminal justice system have earned him dozens of national awards.

Past Calls

April 2009

Guest Speakers:

Jody Kent, National Coordinator for the Fair Sentencing of Youth

Elizabeth Calvin, State Coordinator for the California Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Youth