Legal landscape note: This article was originally published in 2017 and describes the law as it stood at that time. New Jersey law changes frequently.
Juvenile Sentencing Has New Jersey Questioning the System
A New Jersey teenager is sentenced to a term measured in decades, with no realistic parole date until old age, if he lives that long. Is that a life sentence by another name? In Miller v. Alabama and Graham v. Florida, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sentencing juveniles to long consecutive terms for multiple non-homicide crimes was unconstitutional, calling such sentences "cruel and unusual punishment." The New Jersey Supreme Court is struggling with how to respond.
In two New Jersey cases, State v. Comer and State v. Zuber, two young men received lengthy terms with unrealistic parole dates. "They are basically serving life terms and will likely not become eligible for release until they are very elderly, or die," said Assistant Deputy Public Defender James Smith Jr., the attorney representing Zuber. Zuber, 17 at the time, was sentenced to 110 years for two gang rapes in Essex County. Comer, another juvenile, was sentenced to 75 years for four armed robberies.
Mr. Smith proposed that juveniles facing long terms should be granted a hearing after thirty years to determine whether they could be released without being a danger to society -- so that they could hope for a life outside the prison walls. A staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey agreed with Mr. Smith's proposal, noting that a number of inmates could qualify for re-sentencing if the court extended the reasoning of Graham v. Florida.
Should these young offenders be given an opportunity to prove rehabilitation and a chance at life outside of prison? It is a question that has the justices reexamining the system.