• Who We Are
• What We Do
• Publications
• Donate
• Contact

Until They Die A Natural Death

The new report of the Children's Law Center, entitled Until They Die A Natural Death: Youth Sentenced to Life Without Parole in Massachusetts, was released on September 30, 2009. It documents extensive current evidence relative to the impact mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole have on juveniles, and calls for legislative action to eliminate such sanctions. Our report is based on interviews of most of the 57 individuals serving the sentence for crimes that occurred before their eighteenth birthday, and reviews of court decisions, individual case files, court transcripts, scientific data, and media reports to present an argument for assessing and reforming the current law.

Read the full report and summary of findings

Media Response

• Juvenile life-without-parole sentence too harsh, reports says
  Boston Globe, Jonathan Saltzman (September 29, 2009)

  Last year, after citing similar neuroscientific evidence, Human Rights Watch called sentences of life without parole for juveniles "cruel, unfair, ...

• For the youngest killers, a glimmer of redemption
  Boston Globe Editorial (October 1, 2009)

  Massachusetts, however, is an outlier with its insistence on life without parole. Thomas Grisso, a psychologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical ...

• Don't throw away the key on all juvenile killers
  Boston Globe, Scott Harshbarger (October 2, 2009)

  When a juvenile is sentenced to life without parole, the state spends $2.5 million to keep that person in prison until he dies. That's too much taxpayer ...