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

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October 2, 2009 4:23PM EDT

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	62^c	Mandatory[a]	Nebraska	24^c	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	9^c	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	444^c	Mandatory
Illinois	103^c	Mandatory	Rhode Island	2	Discretionary
Indiana	2	Mandatory	South Carolina	26	Mandatory
Iowa	44^b	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	335^c	Mandatory	Utah	1	Discretionary
Maine	0	Discretionary	Vermont	0	Discretionary
Maryland	13	Discretionary	Virginia	48	Mandatory
Massachusetts	57^b	Mandatory	Washington	28^b	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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