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State Distribution of Youth Offenders Serving Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP)

Chart Reflects Total Youth Offenders Serving JLWOP for Any Offense

 

Jurisdiction

Total

State Law

Jurisdiction

Total

State Law

Alabama

62c

Mandatory[a]

Nebraska

24c

Mandatory

Alaska

0

No JLWOP

Nevada

16

Discretionary

Arizona

32

Discretionary

New Hampshire

3

Mandatory

Arkansas

73

Mandatory

New Jersey

0

Mandatory

California

265[b]

JLWOP Presumption

New Mexico

0

Discretionary

Colorado

48

No JLWOP post-2005

New York

0

Mandatory

Connecticut

9c

Mandatory

North Carolina

44

Mandatory

Delaware

7

Mandatory

North Dakota

1

Discretionary

Florida

266[c]

Mandatory

Ohio

2 b

Mandatory

Georgia

8

Discretionary

Oklahoma

48

Discretionary

Hawaii

4

Mandatory

Oregon

0

No JLWOP

Idaho

4

Mandatory

Pennsylvania

444c

Mandatory

Illinois

103c

Mandatory

Rhode Island

2

Discretionary

Indiana

2

Mandatory

South Carolina

26

Mandatory

Iowa

44b

Mandatory

South Dakota

9

Mandatory

Kansas

0

No JLWOP

Tennessee

4

Discretionary

Kentucky

5

Ban on sentencing to JLWOP under court challenge

Texas

5 b

Mandatory

Louisiana

335c

Mandatory

Utah

1

Discretionary

Maine

0

Discretionary

Vermont

0

Discretionary

Maryland

13

Discretionary

Virginia

48

Mandatory

Massachusetts

57 b

Mandatory

Washington

28b

Discretionary

Michigan

346 b

Mandatory

West Virginia

0

Discretionary

Minnesota

2

Mandatory

Wisconsin

16

Discretionary

Mississippi

24

Mandatory

Wyoming

6

Discretionary

Missouri

116

Mandatory

Federal Prisons

36 b

Discretionary

Montana

0

No JLWOP

District of Columbia

0

No JLWOP

Total Youth Offenders Serving Life Without Parole for Any Crime

2,589

Sources: Unless otherwise indicated, these figures are based on data provided directly to Human Rights Watch as of mid-2004 (except that we used the National Corrections Reporting Program to obtain data for Virginia, and for Alabama, we used its inmate locator system). Unless otherwise indicated, and where possible, we updated data between mid-2004 and 2009 using the following methods: post-2004 press reports were checked against inmate records with state departments of corrections; and correspondence received by Human Rights Watch from youth offenders sentenced to life without parole was checked against press reports and state inmate records.


[a] The term "mandatory" means judges have no option other than to sentence youth offenders to JLWOP upon conviction for at least one type of offense. Most often that offense is first degree murder.

[b] In 2009, state department of corrections or Federal Bureau of Prisons sent updated data directly to Human Rights Watch or to partner organizations.

[c] In 2008, state department of corrections sent updated directly to Human Rights Watch or to partner organizations.

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