A more just union
Give child offenders second chance
Last legislative session, we worked together in the Arkansas Legislature to pass a law that has transformed the ways that we hold children accountable for harm they have caused.
Senate Bill 294—now Act 539— ensures that children sentenced to adult prison in Arkansas have review opportunities after no more than 20 to 30 years into their sentences. Now, individuals told as children that they would die in prison can imagine a second chance.
But review isn’t a guarantee of release. Instead, it recognizes that children possess a unique capacity to grow and change and that we can never know who a child will become when he or she reaches adulthood.
As a result of this legislation, Arkansas has emerged as a national leader, with states throughout the country looking to us for guidance on how they, too, can pass sensible laws that hold children accountable in more age-appropriate ways, and in ways which take into account trauma they may have experienced in their own young lives.
Last month, the Washington state Supreme Court followed in Arkansas’ footsteps and became the 21st state (plus the District of Columbia) to ban life without parole for children, sending a message about our national values and character.
Congressman Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs was inspired by this momentum and Arkansas’ Act 539, and recently introduced HR6011, which would end life without the possibility of parole for children in the federal criminal justice system.
We are a nation that believes in second chances, and no one is more deserving of them than children. As elected members of the Arkansas state House and Senate, we urge Arkansas’ congressional delegation to co-sponsor and push for the immediate passage of HR6011. We also encourage Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton to push for the inclusion of HR6011 in any criminal justice reform bill sent to President Trump’s desk.
The passage of this bill would bring the U.S. government in line not only with Arkansas, but states as diverse as Texas, California, Utah, and West Virginia. Several more are considering such reforms.
We know that children are less able than adults to control their impulses, think through the long-term impacts of their behaviors, or resist pressure from peers and adults. We also know that children possess a unique capacity for change and rehabilitation.
We have seen remarkable examples of these changes in Arkansas. Last month, we attended an in-district meeting with Congressman Westerman at St. Luke’s Church in Hot Springs, and met several individuals who have been given a second chance thanks to Act 539. These were men and women who had been deemed throwaway children for serious crimes they committed as teenagers, and were sentenced to die in prison. Yet they maintained hope and worked to better themselves and those around them while incarcerated. And now that they’ve returned home, they are helping others—speaking with inmates and youthful offenders about the perils of crime, and providing a hopeful example that we are each more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.
Most of them experienced trauma and exposure to violence before they committed their crimes. All demonstrated remorse, served their time, and are working to become productive members of society. They are experiencing many firsts—like getting their first driver’s license and first job in free society.
Children, more than anyone else, should have the opportunity to demonstrate they have been rehabilitated and deserve an opportunity to begin again. And so we stand with Congressman Bruce Westerman and other members of Congress who are advancing his legislation, and we call on Arkansas’ congressional leaders to do the same.
Passage of this bill would move us one step closer toward truly becoming a more perfect, just, and compassionate union.