Life in Prison
No one, offenders included, expects prison to be a pleasant place.
But there is a considerable incongruity between the physical or
mental maturity of young prisoners and the kind of experiences
and people prison forces them to confront.
The vast majority of youth serving life without parole
have had violent experiences in prison. Many child offenders get
into fights with other inmates in order to defend themselves from
physical violence, including rape.
Human Rights Watch received more than 300 letters
from child offenders currently serving life without
parole sentences, below are five examples.
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