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Appendix C: Sample Letter Soliciting Data from State Correctional Department

December 4, 2003

Mr. / Ms. ___________

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections

Box 598

Camp Hill, PA 17001-0598

Dear __________________:

We are writing to ask your assistance with the development of statistical data on youthful offenders in Pennsylvania who are serving prison sentences of life without parole or life plus years. We are trying to acquire data from each state on the number of such offenders as part of a national study Human Rights Watch is undertaking on the sentencing of juveniles.

We are making this request directly to you because unfortunately, there is no reliable national database containing the information we seek. While the National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) contains information on state prison admissions and sentences, our analysis of the NCRP data reveals substantial differences with the figures we have obtained directly from several state correction departments. We are concerned there may be similar problems for other states as well. To ensure the most accurate data possible, we have therefore decided to ask each state to provide us with the information we seek.

We would be very grateful if you could provide us with the following information about offenders who were admitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections for each year between 1983 and 2002:

1. The number of offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time of offense (or arrest) or who were 19 or under at time of admission and who were admitted with sentences of life without parole, and for each such offender: 

a. Gender

b. Race

c. Date of birth

d. Age at admission (or age at time of arrest)

e. Offense for which convicted

f. County of offense or residence

g. Current facility in which confined

2. The number of offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time of offense (or arrest) or who were 19 or under at time of admission and who were admitted with sentences of life plus years, and for each such offender:

a. Gender

b. Race

c. Date of birth

d. Age at admission (or age at time of arrest)

e. Offense for which convicted

f. County of offense or residence

g. Current facility in which confined

3. If your privacy rules permit, we would also like to be given the name and department of corrections identification number for each of these offenders.

We hope developing this data will not be burdensome for you. If you can only provide partial statistics, we would be grateful nonetheless. We think it extremely important for the country to have a solid statistical basis for understanding juvenile sentencing and incarceration and we know of no other way to develop an accurate database than to ask each state department of corrections to provide it to us.

If you have any questions about our request, please do not hesitate to contact me, Alison Parker, at [phone/email]. In the meantime, let me thank you in advance for your attention to this request.

Sincerely,

Alison Parker, Esq.

Senior Researcher


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