SJC Exchange Library

Logan Seacrest from R Street writes in this blog post:

The U.S. juvenile justice system recently crossed a major milestone, which went largely unnoticed. On Feb. 7, 2023, Illinois became the 26th state to ban juvenile life without parole. Now that more than half of U.S. states have taken this important step, we may be at the tipping point necessary to end this cruel and unusual practice once and for all.

This policy shift has been a victory for conservatism. Permanently locking up children is incompatible with the values of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and the right to life and liberty. On the Illinois Senate floor, Sen. Donald DeWitte spoke forcefully in favor of the bill. "I consider myself a law-and-order Republican, but I also believe in rehabilitation. I believe there are some people who make extremely poor decisions in the very early portions of their lives," he said. "For these people, we need to offer them hope and let them know we recognize that people can redeem themselves."

Full blog post