The extraordinarily high rates … The Chester Upland school district has in the past two decades often ranked as the worst in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. James T. Harris III, “Success amid Crisis in Chester,” Philly (February 16, 2012), available at articles.philly/2012-02-16/news/31067474_1_school-district-curriculum-parents-and-guardians, accessed April 30, 2014.
2 Close to 46 percent … In 2012, it was estimated by the Census Bureau that 45.6 percent of Chester’s residents under the age of eighteen lived below the federal poverty level. U.S. Census Bureau, 2008–2012 American Community Survey, Chester city, Pennsylvania.
3 Defendants who are deemed incompetent … 50 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 7402.
4 Pennsylvania sentencing law was inflexible … Until 2012, anyone convicted of first- or second-degree murder automatically received a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. 18 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 1102; 61 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 6137. Life imprisonment without parole is possible, though no longer mandatory, for juveniles convicted of first- or second-degree murder. 18 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 1102.1.
5 “This is the saddest case I’ve ever seen”… Liliana Segura, “Throwaway People: Teens Sent to Die in Prison Will Get a Second Chance,” The Nation (May 28, 2012).
6 For a tragic crime committed at fourteen … Segura, “Throwaway People”; Commonwealth v. Garnett, 485 A.2d 821 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1984).
7 It wasn’t until 2008 that most states … The Federal Bureau of Prisons adopted a policy in 2008 that restricts the shackling of pregnant inmates. Federal Bureau of Prisons, “Program Statement: Escorted Trips, No. 5538.05” (October 6, 2008), available at bop.gov/policy/progstat/5538_005.pdf, accessed April 30, 2014. Currently twenty-four states have laws or policies that prevent or restrict the shackling of pregnant inmates or inmates giving birth. Dana Sussman, “Bound by Injustice: Challenging the Use of Shackles on Incarcerated Pregnant Women,” Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender 15 (2009): 477; “State Standards for Pregnancy-Related Health Care and Abortion for Women in Prison,” American Civil Liberties Union, available at aclu.org/maps/state-standards-pregnancy-related-health-care-and-abortion-women-prison-map, accessed April 28, 2014.
8 The guard appealed … Garnett v. Kepner, 541 F. Supp. 241 (M.D. Pa. 1982).
9 She is one of nearly five hundred people … Paula Reed Ward, “Pa. Top Court Retains Terms for Juvenile Lifers,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (October 30, 2013); “Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP) in Pennsylvania,” Juvenile Law Center, available at jlc.org/current-initiatives/promoting-fairness-courts/juvenile-life-without-parole/jlwop-pennsylvania, accessed April 26, 2014.
10 The correctional staff at the prison … Meg Laughlin, “Does Separation Equal Suffering?” Tampa Bay Times (December 17, 2006).
11 Juveniles housed in adult prisons … In enacting the Prison Elimination Act of 2003, Congress found that juveniles in adult facilities are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted. 42 U.S.C. § 15601(4).
12 As he sank deeper into despair … Laughlin, “Does Separation Equal Suffering?”
13 By 2010, Florida had sentenced … Florida had sentenced a total of seventy-seven juveniles to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide offenses. Brief of Petitioner, Graham v. Florida, U.S. Supreme Court (2009); Paolo G. Annino, David W. Rasmussen, and Chelsea B. Rice, Juvenile Life without Parole for Non-Homicide Offenses: Florida Compared to the Nation (2009), 2, table A.
14 several of whom were thirteen years old … Two thirteen-year-olds in Florida, including Joe Sullivan, had been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide offenses. Annino, Rasmussen, and Rice, Juvenile Life without Parole for Non-Homicide Offenses, chart E (2009).
15 All of the youngest …“Cruel and Unusual: Sentencing 13- and 14-Year-Old Children to Die in Prison,” Equal Justice Initiative (2008), available at eji.org/eji/files/Cruel%20and%20Unusual%202008_0.pdf, accessed April 30, 2014.
16 Florida had the largest population … The United States is the only country in the world that sentences juveniles to die in prison for non-homicide offenses, and Florida has sentenced far more such offenders to life without parole than any other state. Annino, Rasmussen, and Rice, Juvenile Life without Parole for Non-Homicide Offenses, chart E.
17 “He was excited to take his picture”… In re Nunez, 173 Cal.App. 4th 709, 720 (2009).
18 He got his hands on a gun … In re Nunez, 173 Cal.App. 4th 709, 720–21 (2009).
19 Many adults convicted of attempted murder …“Violent Crimes,” Florida Department of Corrections, available at dc.state.fl.us/pub/timeserv/annual/section2.html, accessed January 9, 2014; Matthew R. Durose and Patrick A. Langan, “Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2004,” Bureau of Justice Statistics (July 2007), available at bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fssc04.pdf; “State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons 2004—Statistical Tables,” Bureau of Justice Statistics (2007), available at bjs.gov/content/pub/html/scscf04/scscf04mt.cfm, accessed January 10, 2013.
20 For instance, in the infamous … James Goodman, Stories of Scottsboro (New York: Pantheon Books, 1994), 8.
21 Within hours of announcing … David I. Bruck, “Executing Teen Killers Again: The 14-Year-Old Who, in