- Target:
- Thomas E. Niehaus
- Region:
- United States of America
Life in prison without the chance of parole means that someone who is convicted of a crime will spend the rest of their life in jail without any chance of being set free.
In the state of Ohio it is legal for a juvenile (someone under the age of 18) to be sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole. There are currently two juveniles serving these sentences in Ohio.
Murder is not even a requirement of this sentence; this means someone who has not even taken the life of another individual will have their life taken away. This law fails to uphold the four basic principle of punishment by law. The four principles being: Deterrence, Retribution, Rehabilitation, and Incapacitation. This law does not allow juveniles a second chance and shows them that we as a state of Ohio and as a nation have given up on them completely.
When these juveniles are sentenced with JLWOP they are forced to imprisonment in the same prisons as adults. This is not only dangerous physically to these juveniles, but also mentally and psychologically. And because they are not ever going to be let out of jail they are often left out of many rehabilitative programs, leaving them feeling worthless, useless, and abandoned.
We call on the Ohio State Senate to get rid of Ohio Statute 2903.02, that allows juvenile sentences to life without a chance of parole, (JLWOP).
JLWOP undermines the four fundamental principles of punishment in the United States. It refuses juveniles of their basic human rights and is without a doubt a social injustice in the state of Ohio.
The undersigned names are those in favor of the removal of this law immediately.
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The Stop Sentencing Juveniles To Life In Prison Without Parole petition to Thomas E. Niehaus was written by Bobby Beebe and is in the category Justice at GoPetition.