Second Chances Resource Library

Once a person is imprisoned, indigent defense stops. But the gravity of mass incarceration demands legal representation to the very end. This opinion piece makes the case for a post-conviction right to counsel, including specific discussion of the need for lawyers in medical release and clemency contexts.

Second Look Update: The 20-Year Compromise, is a data driven booklet that examines the potential impact that Second Look Legislation may have on Michigan if passed with a 20-year minimum requirement to apply. It also looks at the demographic of currently incarcerated people who currently have 20 years served, as county by county information, and quotes of support from those inside and out.

As a result of litigation initiated during the height of COVID, more than 13,400 people were granted “early reentry” from prisons across North Carolina between February 2021 and July 2022. During that same approximate period of time, the Durham County (NC) District Attorney’s Office consented to the release of 64 people serving lengthy sentences, saving nearly 600 years of incarceration. Only one of the 64 people returned to prison after their release.

As part of its focus on reframing public safety, Southern Coalition for Social Justice took a closer look at these efforts and their outcomes to determine whether early reentry and prosecutorial “second look” approaches can and should be continued—and perhaps expanded in the future. After a close analysis of public records from the Department of Public Safety, Department of Adult Correction, and Durham County, the conclusion was that these measures— which saved hundreds of years of incarceration and potentially millions of dollars, and had no adverse effect on public safety—should be widely adopted and expanded.

This article explores the disparities in juvenile sentencing across the United States, with a focus on the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in Jones v. Mississippi (2021) and the importance of incorporating neuroscience research into legal decisions. It highlights how different jurisdictions handle juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences, leading to significant inconsistencies based on geography. The article advocates for the development of a “benchcard” that would guide judges in making informed decisions by integrating the latest scientific understanding of brain development, particularly concerning individuals up to age 25. By examining the evolution of legal protections for juveniles and the role of the prison industrial complex, the article argues for a more equitable legal approach that considers the developmental differences of young offenders.

This essay responds to Randle DeFalco’s recent book, Invisible Atrocities, which explores the function of the aesthetics of violence in international law. In the book, DeFalco questions international criminal law’s preference for punishing spectacular demonstrations of violence, rather than more banal, bureaucratic actions that cause mass scales of suffering and misery. The book resonated with the co-authors of this essay, because they have seen the same dynamic at work in U.S. criminal law with respect to society’s views on two forms of the death penalty enacted by the carceral state: capital punishment and life without parole.

Indeed, two co-authors of this essay, Kempis Songster and Terrell Carter, who were sentenced to life without parole over three decades ago, intimately understand the invisibility of the harm described by DeFalco and believe that their sentence is more aptly described as death by incarceration. Employing DeFalco’s framework, the essay aims to visibilize the slow, but fatal violence of this sentence.

The essay is part of an emergent genre of participatory law scholarship (or PLS), which is legal scholarship written in collaboration with authors who have no formal training in the law, but rather expertise in law’s injustice through lived experience.

The report highlights the latest data on youth and emerging adults serving life sentences, including:

Life sentences for youth under 18

• In 2020, over 8,600 people were serving either life with the possibility of parole (LWP) or “virtual” life sentences of 50 years or longer for crimes committed as minors.
• California (2,358), Georgia (900), Texas (1,081), and New York (461) hold the largest number of youth sentenced to LWP or virtual life sentences.
• In Georgia and Wisconsin, 10% or more of the entire life-sentenced population were under 18 at the time of their crime.
• In the following states, at least 80% of people serving these sentences are Black: Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, and Mississippi.

Life sentences for people 25 or younger

• Nearly two in five people sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) were 25 or younger at the time of their crime.
• Being Black and young produced a substantially larger share of LWOP sentences than being Black alone: two-thirds of emerging adults sentenced to LWOP were Black.

A broad range of experts across the fields of neuroscience, sociology, and psychology agree that juveniles and emerging adults share reduced culpability and developmental immaturity. In addition, social science consistently shows that extreme penalties offer little community safety benefit.

As states implement policies to eliminate LWOP for juveniles, they must provide a second look for all youth, not just some.

This law review article analyzes ways that racial bias may influence felony murder and accomplice liability murder prosecutions. It includes an analysis of data from Minnesota, though the arguments are more broadly applicable.

This report serves as a guide for actionable policies, with bipartisan support, that will make the criminal justice system more safe, accountable, and fair for incarcerated people, the professionals who work in the criminal justice system every day, and the public. In each section of this guide, we have included policies that can advance immediately, before the end of the next session of Congress (the 119th Congress), and before a new president takes office in 2029. All of these policies have enough support to become law. It includes several policies related to second chances, including reinstating federal parole, reforming the clemency process, and making certain retroactive sentencing reforms.