• 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.

  • A photograph of Ethan A. (pseudonym) held by his mother, showing her son at age 11, four months before he was arrested for committing a sex offense and placed on the sex offender registry in Texas.
    © 2013 Private
    US: More Harm Than Good
    Harsh public registration laws often punish youth sex offenders for life and do little to protect public safety, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. A web of federal and state laws apply to people under 18 who have committed any of a wide range of sex offenses, from the very serious, like rape, to the relatively innocuous, such as public nudity.
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Excessive Punishment and Restrictions

  • US: More Harm Than Good
    May 1, 2013
    Harsh public registration laws often punish youth sex offenders for life and do little to protect public safety, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. A web of federal and state laws apply to people under 18 who have committed any of a wide range of sex offenses, from the very serious, like rape, to the relatively innocuous, such as public nudity.
  • Q&A: Raised on the Registry
    May 1, 2013
    Questions and answers about Human Rights Watch's recent report, "Raised on the Registry: The Irreparable Harm of Placing Children on Sex Offender Registries in the US."
  • US/California: Improve Proportionality in Drug Sentencing
    Apr 11, 2013
    Human Rights Watch wrote to the California Senate Public Safety Committee in support of SB 649, which would grant prosecutors the discretion to charge individuals arrested for simple possession of illicit drugs with a misdemeanor rather than a felony, as well as give judges the ability to reduce a felony simple possession charge to a misdemeanor at the time of conviction.
  • Ban solitary confinement for youth in care of the federal government
    Apr 11, 2013
  • Florida: End Life Without Parole for Youth Offenders
    Apr 5, 2013
    Human Rights Watch urged the Florida Senate Criminal Justice Committee to oppose Senate Bill (SB) 1350, Criminal Penalties. HRW believes that this bill is in violation of international human rights law.
  • 'Too Little Justice': Misdemeanor Defendants in the US
    Mar 22, 2013
    Indigent defendants in Midland, Texas are not receiving proper instructions regarding their right to counsel, a problem leading to uneducated plea bargains.
  • US: Maryland Expected to Abolish Death Penalty
    Mar 15, 2013
    Maryland is on the verge of becoming the sixth US state in six years to abolish the death penalty, though five men may continue to sit on the state’s death row.
  • Letter to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Examine Incarceration of Youth in US Adult Prisons and Jails
    Mar 11, 2013
    Human Rights Watch submitted an expert letter on the incarceration of youth offenders in adult prisons in the United States. We commend the commission for holding a hearing on this issue and engaging in a productive dialogue with the United States on this topic of grave importance to the human rights of children.
  • US: Injustices Filling the Prisons
    Jan 31, 2013

    The enormous prison population in the United States partly reflects harsh sentencing practices contrary to international law, Human Rights Watch said in the US chapter of its World Report 2013.

  • Jailers should not be the judge, too
    Jan 9, 2013
    Les Miserables' Inspector Javert is one of those characters who defines "blind justice." Such is the power of his symbolism that today, our laws allow just the mercy that Javert denied. However, putting mercy into practice, such as in the form of compassionate release, is a challenge.
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