“Pennsylvania Parole Board Refused to Reform How it Reviewed Child Lifer Prisoners for Parole Release,” by Shakaboona.
In this great sea of societal change, the people of America, followed by the United States Supreme Court, has changed its view of adolescent brain development and behavior and how its court system shall treat children that commit criminal offenses. In a string of United States Supreme Court cases involving child offenders serving sentences of the death penalty and life without parole for murder, the justices have consistently held that kids are different and are less culpable than adult offenders. However, the Pennsylvania parole board aren’t accustomed to thinking about that at all, and it shows. It appears, that the Pennsylvania parole board didn’t get the memo in this matter, because they have shown no signs of reforming how it reviews parole release for Pennsylvania’s approximately 4000 child offenders and 560 child lifers certified as adults and imprisoned within the Pennsylvania state prison system. Despite the United States Supreme Court’s ruling that kids are to be treated differently than adult criminal offenders, the Pennsylvania parole board continues to conduct parole review hearings of child offenders under the same criterion as that of adult offenders.
As far as the Pennsylvania parole board is concerned, its business as usual, and reform of its parole review of child offenders is just not on the business agenda. Currently, the Pennsylvania parole board is incapable of providing adequate parole release hearings to child offenders serving time in adult state prisons, because, despite the Supreme Court’s rulings in Roper, Graham, Miller, and Montgomery cases, the Pennsylvania Parole Board has yet to create new policy and practices regarding parole review of child offenders: has yet to establish a criterion of a lesser than adult standard of review to child offenders at parole release hearings: has yet to train its parole review officers in the scientific studies of adolescent brain development and behavior or the mitigating factors cited in Miller, and has not required presumptive parole for child offenders at parole reviews. Although bureaucracies are reluctant to change for the better, nothing will get the Pennsylvania parole board going to reform the way reviews parole release for child offenders than a good kick in the behind. From the Belly of the Beast at prison radio, I am Shakaboona. Thank you for listening.
These commentaries are recorded by Noel Hanrahan of prison radio.
