http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/us/17teenage.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=printOctober 17, 2007
Lifers as Teenagers, Now Seeking Second Chance
By ADAM LIPTAK
American Exception
Without Parole
This is the first in an occasional series of articles that will examine commonplace aspects of the American justice system that are actually unique in the world.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In December, the United Nations took up a resolution calling for the abolition of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for children and young teenagers. The vote was 185 to 1, with the United States the lone dissenter.
Indeed, the United States stands alone in the world in convicting young adolescents as adults and sentencing them to live out their lives in prison. According to a new report, there are 73 Americans serving such sentences for crimes they committed at 13 or 14.
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The group that plans to release the report on Oct. 17, the Equal Justice Initiative, based in Montgomery, Ala., is one of several human rights organizations that say states should be required to review sentences of juvenile offenders as the decades go by, looking for cases where parole might be warranted.