4 days, 2 cities, 585 miles, and 16 cups of coffee

I was on the road most of last week for meetings in Pittsburgh and a conference in Washington. (I spent Monday at the state capitol, which some would say is like traveling to another planet.)

On Tuesday, our Pittsburgh chapter held its monthly board meeting, and we had a chance to discuss the 2009-10 state legislative session and look ahead to what we're facing in the 2011-12 session. While in Pittsburgh, I also had the chance to meet with allies and friends who are working on LGBT rights and juvenile life without parole (JLWOP).

In Washington, the ACLU's National Prison Project held a two-day conference to discuss long-term solitary confinement. And by long-term, they mean people who are in solitary for years, even decades. My DC trip also included a meeting with a national ally on JLWOP.

All of these issues present challenges. None of them are easy, and they all take planning and years of steady work. There are no shortcuts,and the ACLU has been very effective at surrounding itself with smart, strategic thinkers who understand this.

The ACLU is fiercely non-partisan. As I always tell people, both Republicans and Democrats annoy us. We have been tough on President Obama, just as we were tough on President Bush.

No one should be under any illusion that simply electing certain candidates is enough to protect and enhance civil liberties. All of our elected officials from both major parties must be held to account on where they stand, and to get where we want to go with issues like LGBT rights, criminal justice reform, and others, we have to put in the work necessary to convince a critical mass of policymakers that standing up for civil liberties is the right place to be.

That was the lesson of my 585 mile trip over the Allegheny Mountains (twice), inside the beltway, and through the farmlands of Pennsylvania and Maryland. So let's get to work. Oh, and please support the ACLU.

Andy Hoover, Legislative Director

Juvenile Injustice

Meet Qu’eed Batts. Batts was a Blood street gang member in 2006 when he was arrested, tried as an adult, and convicted of committing murder when he was just 14.

Just over a month ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted review to Batts’ case on the juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) issue. At 17 he has been granted a petition to appeal, but his case won’t be seen until after the US Supreme Court decides on two Florida JLWOP cases, which take up the issue of whether or not sentencing children to life without the possibility of parole violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Batts' case is just one of many juvenile cases that make juvenile justice one of the hottest topics in civil liberties, which is why the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter's Public Education Committee devoted an entire series to bringing these issues to the community.

The series, which began on September 10th with a discussion on the problem of juvenile life sentencing was led by Martha Conley, ACLU of PA Greater Pittsburgh board member, chair of the Pittsburgh chapter of Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and associate producer of the film Lost in the Hype.

Pennsylvania has convicted more JLWOP than any other state in the US. Currently, PA host 444 prisoners who are serving life without parole for crimes they committed as juveniles. Of the 2,574 serving in 39 states throughout the US, 60% were first time offenders, according to a 2005 study by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Two of the main reasons PA disproportionately houses more JLWOP inmates are:

1. A 1995 law that requires juveniles charged of serious crimes to bypass the juvenile courts and first be seen in adult courts. Reasoning being: “adult crimes deserve adult time”; however a growing body of medical research shows incomplete brain development, especially in the areas controlling impulse, planning, judgment, and foresight of consequences, in youth and young adults up to age 21.
2. Unlike other states, only the governor may grant clemency to anyone with the life without parole sentence, including children.

As for the public’s view, a February 2007 National Counsel on Crime and Delinquency study found that 89% of respondents believed rehabilitation services and treatment can prevent youth who have committed crimes from committing future crime. For more information regarding future Greater Pittsburgh Chapter discussion series, visit http://www.aclupa.org/chapters/greaterpittsburgh/discussionseries20092010.htm.

More information on juvenile life sentencing can be found here or here.


Kristine in Pittsburgh