Information needed on Juvienile Lifers

Please help provide this inmate. Letter received 2-23-09

RE: Juvenile Lifers: www.HR4300.com

My name is Howard (Florida Prisoner) I am a JVL (Juvenile-Lifer and first time offender. At first I thought I was one of a very select few. During my twenty-something years of incarceration I’ve met so many other JVL.

Although sentenced to life for capital offenses, we were still juveniles. There should be a favorable difference between juvenile and adult life sentences. I was recently aggravated 20 years by the Parole Board for unchangeable factors in my offense (over 20 years ago) and 60 months for being a juvinile at the time of my offense.

I am urging all JVL to tell family and friends to log on to petition site HR3400.com They are trying to get 5000 signatures to end Juvenile Life and improve legal defense for juveniles facing life.

PS Petiton site has more information.
Robert Howard # 082581
South Bay Correctional Facility
PO Box 7171 (D4-106)
South Bay FL 33493

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Comments

By Karren on May 18th, 2009 at 7:36 am

I know a kid who was 16 at the time of sentencing, got 25 to life on the recommendation of his Public Defender (said if he went to trial he would probably get 55 to life). He has been in an adult facility in CA since Dec. 2002.
The kid was functionally illiterate, couldn’t read and write, has a dysfunctional family who was not there to help him through any of this, and I think that if he had gone to trial his competency to make this decision would have been questioned.
I would love to see Juvenile sentencing overhauled, more done to do something to rehabilitate, not throw away our children in adult prisons (adult prison sentence overhaul is long overdue as well).

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