• The Ryan Correctional Facility in Detroit. Michigan is among the states that sentence offenders under age 18 to life without the possibility of parole.
    © 2007 Associated Press
    US: Harsh Conditions for Young Lifers
    The approximately 2,570 youth offenders serving life without parole sentences in adult US prisons experience conditions that violate fundamental human rights. The United States is the only country in the world with youth offenders (below the age of 18 at the time of offense) serving life without parole sentences. The US Supreme Court will consider arguments about the constitutionality of the practice in March 2012.
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  • Excessive Punishments and Restrictions

    We oppose the death penalty in all cases as inherently cruel. We also work to change criminal sentences that are disproportionately severe relative to the crime and the culpability of the individual offender, including the sentencing of juvenile offenders to life without the possibility of parole and long sentences set by mandatory sentencing laws for low level drug offenses. These sentences violate human rights laws binding on the United States that prohibit cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and require that juvenile offenders be treated in accordance with their age and capacity for rehabilitation. We also oppose the imposition of arbitrary and disproportionate restrictions in lieu of, or in addition to, criminal punishment, such as restrictions on access to public housing, the right to vote, or choice of residence.

Reports

Excessive Punishment and Restrictions

  • Give child offenders chance at rehabilitation
    Feb 2, 2012
    Virginia should not move in the direction of treating child sex offenders the same as adult offenders. Instead, the state should stand by its commitment to offer young offenders a chance at rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
  • US: Number of Aging Prisoners Soaring
    Jan 26, 2012
    Aging men and women are the most rapidly growing group in US prisons, and prison officials are hard-pressed to provide them appropriate housing and medical care. Because of their higher rates of illness and impairments, older prisoners incur medical costs that are three to nine times as high as those for younger prisoners.
  • US: End Life Without Parole for Juvenile Offenders
    Jan 26, 2012
    Human Rights Watch joined 25 other institutions in filing an amicus brief before the US Supreme Court in the upcoming cases of Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Arkansas. It argues that international practice, opinion, and treaty obligations support holding all life without parole sentences for juveniles unconstitutional.
  • New, unneeded obstacles to abortion
    Jan 22, 2012
    A federal appeals court this month upheld a Texas law that requires a woman seeking an abortion to undergo a sonogram, forces doctors to describe that sonogram in detail to her and then requires that she wait 24 hours before she can undergo the procedure.
  • Written Testimony for Hearing on Prostitution-Free Zone Amendment Act of 2011
    Jan 19, 2012
  • US: Harsh Conditions for Young Lifers
    Jan 2, 2012
    The approximately 2,570 youth offenders serving life without parole sentences in adult US prisons experience conditions that violate fundamental human rights. The United States is the only country in the world with youth offenders (below the age of 18 at the time of offense) serving life without parole sentences. The US Supreme Court will consider arguments about the constitutionality of the practice in March 2012.
  • US: Pennsylvania – Don’t Include Juveniles in Sex Offender Registry
    Dec 1, 2011
    Human Rights Watch is concerned about the impact of House Bill 1958 on Pennsylvania children adjudicated delinquent or found guilty of sex offenses, in particular language that would require youthful offenders to participate in the registration and notification requirements under the Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) of the Adam Walsh Act (AWA).
  • US: An Attack on Human Dignity
    Oct 10, 2011
    The cornerstone of human rights is respect for the inherent dignity of all human beings and the inviolability of the human person, which is inconsistent with the death penalty. Capital punishment is unique in its cruelty and finality, and it is inevitably and universally plagued with arbitrariness, prejudice, and error.
  • Texas: Grant Clemency to Duane Buck
    Sep 13, 2011
    Human Rights Watch urges Texas to commute the sentence of Duane Edward Buck, who is scheduled to be executed this week. The application of the death penalty is rife with racial disparities.
  • Georgia: Commute the Sentence of Troy Davis
    Sep 9, 2011
    Human Rights Watch urges Georgia to commute the sentence of Troy Anthony Davis, who is scheduled to be executed on September 21, 2011. A rights-respecting government simply should not tolerate the risk that a person will be executed for a crime he or she did not commit.
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