Emerging Adults
In this amicus brief (and a companion brief filed in Michigan v. Andrew Czarnecki), Fair and Just Prosecution urges the Michigan Supreme Court to extend 19- and 20-year olds its finding that life without parole sentences for young people violate state and federal constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) at the Aspen Institute released a report detailing survey results of nearly one thousand Native youth on their needs and priorities across issues that matter most to them. This survey was built and disseminated by Native youth leaders who worked in partnership with CNAY staff to practice and…
The evidence provided in this brief supports bold reforms for youth and emerging adults sentenced to extreme punishments.
From the executive summary: “YEAH (Youth Empowerment for Advancement Hangout) is a community-based organization working to empower, advocate for, and meet the needs of young people ages 15 to 24 based in West and Southwest Philadelphia. Kendra Van de Water and James Aye co-founded YEAH in 2018 to address the stark lack of safe, culturally…
This report presents the evolution of the second look movement, which started with ensuring compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Graham v. Florida (2010) and Miller v. Alabama (2012) on the constitutionality of juvenile life without parole (“JLWOP”) sentences.12 This reform has more recently expanded to other types of sentences and populations, such…
Written testimony by BJ Casey, Ph.D. and Leah H. Somerville, PhD submitted to the US Sentencing Commission. The testimony argues that brain and behavioral development continues well into a person’s twenties.
From the abstract: “Contemporary scholarship has demonstrated the negative effects of incarcerating juveniles in adult facilities, coinciding with a growing concern about the long-lasting effects of this practice in the United States. The current study served to expand this literature by examining the effects of being incarcerated in an adult facility as a juvenile on…
From the forward: “This paper raises important questions about the criminal justice system’s response to young adults. Recent advances in behavior and neuroscience research confirm that brain development continues well into a person’s 20s, meaning that young adults have more psychosocial similarities to children than to older adults. This developmental distinction should help inform the…
