Bill that allows clemency for juvenile prisoners advances
The Senate Judiciary Committee Friday approved a proposal that would allow clemency for juvenile prisoners in Minnesota who are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Juveniles convicted as adults for certain crimes such as premeditated first-degree murder or murdering police officers can be sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
A bill by state Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, would allow such juveniles the opportunity for parole after 20 years.
Proponents of the bill say there is strong scientific research showing that the brains of people under 18 are still developing and that that has an effect on a young person's ability to make rational decisions.
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During a hearing, Latz read from a National Geographic magazine article that described how a person's brain goes through a "massive reorganization" between the ages of 12 and 25.
"That massive reorganization doesn't end until you're about 25-years-old," Latz said. "Our juvenile justice system ends when you turn 18."
The bill is a response to a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that when mitigating factors are not considered at sentencing, mandatory life sentences without the possibility of release for juvenile offenders are unconstitutional.
State officials say there are eight people serving life sentences without parole for crimes they committed as juveniles. If the bill becomes law, those prisoners would eventually be allowed to apply for parole.
Among those prisoners is Mahdi Hassan Ali, who was 17 when he shot and killed three men during a 2010 robbery at a Minneapolis convenience store.
"What we ask through this bill is not to release juvenile offenders after 20 years," said University of Minnesota Law School professor Perry Moriearty, who testified in favor of the bill. "We simply ask that they have the opportunity to make the case that they were not as culpable as an adult at the time of their offense."
The committee also passed bills reforming the process for juveniles and adults seeking to expunge their criminal records.