Washington Supreme Court Declares Juvenile Life Sentences Without the Possibility of Parole is Unconstitutional

In another major decision this month, the Washington Supreme Court in State v. Bassett, has declared that sentencing a juvenile to life in prison without the possibility of parole or early release was cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Washington Constitution.

This comes on the heels of another decision declaring the death penalty unconstitutional in Washington.

The driving force behind all of these decisions is advances in the knowledge of how the brain develops and that the juvenile brain is structured differently. The law is slowly coming around to the idea that a juvenile should not face a sentence that they can never recover from for something done as a child.