education

1. EDUCATION OF YOUTHS ON LONG
TERM PRISON SENTENCES
By Simon N. Obi, CEPT
ASPC - Perryville Prison Complex

2. Bureau of Justice Assistance
A Subsidiary of U. S. Dept. of Justice
• The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a
component of the Office of Justice
Programs, which also includes the Bureau
of Justice Statistics, the National Institute
of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention, and the
Office for Victims of Crime. BJA 10/2000

3. EDUCATION OF YOUTHSIN ADULT
PRISONS
• In addition to special management and programming needs, youthful
offenders need educational programming that is more structured, thorough,
and intensive than that provided in adult institutions. It is important to ensure
that facilities are both aware of and adhering to federal mandates to provide
regular and special education services to youth in their care.
• Incarcerated youth are required to receive regular, special, and vocational
education services in accordance with the state law for public schools, the
rules and regulations of the state board of education, and the regulations of
the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Individuals With
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
• BJA 10/2000

4. ARIZONA SPECIFIC RULES
• Arizona § 8–305 [A] juvenile who is convicted in a jail or
lockup in which adults are confined shall be kept in a
physically separate section from any adult who is
charged with or convicted of a criminal offense, and no
sight or sound contact between the juvenile and any
charged or convicted adult is permitted, except to the
extent authorized under federal laws or regulations page
80 BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE 10/2000

5. Facts and Infographics about Life Without Parole for
Children
• Facts about the sentence
• The majority of sentences to life without parole for youth have been
imposed in states where judges are obligated to impose it as a mandatory
sentence, without consideration of any factors relating to a child’s age or life
circumstances.
• More than 25% of people serving life without parole after being sentenced
as children were convicted of felony murder or accomplice liability, meaning
they were not the primary perpetrators of the crime, and may not have even
been present at the time someone was killed.
• The majority of youth sentenced to life without parole are concentrated in
just five states: California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, and
Pennsylvania. (California’s Senate Bill 9, the Fair Sentencing of Youth Act,
provides re-sentencing and parole opportunities to youth under 18
sentenced to life without parole. The bill was signed by Governor Brown in
2012 and applies retroactively to the nearly 300 “juvenile lifers” currently
serving in California prisons.)
• Children sentence to life in prison without parole are often the most
vulnerable members of our society. (fairsentencingofyouth.gov)

7. DOJ Mandates for Educof Youths #1
• The courts have made it clear that children
• in correctional facilities are entitled to the benefit of special education laws
• under Green v. Johnson and Donnell C. v. Illinois State Board of Education.
• Children eligible for special education are entitled to a broad range of
assessment,
• evaluation, educational, and related services under the Individuals
• With Disabilities Education Act. Federal time lines for assessment and
• implementation apply, even when the child is in temporary detention (see
• U.S. Office of Civil Rights, Solano County Juvenile Hall, California, Case
• No. 09–89–1227 and Nick O. v. Terhune). The Bureau of Justice Assistance, 10/2000

8. DOJ Mandates for Educof Youths #2
• All youth should be offered an average of 5.5 hours of daily instruction, 5
• days a week, by qualified teachers, in an environment that facilitates
learning.
• Additionally, youth ought to be assigned to grade levels with curricula
• that are in accordance with their educational level, and they should
• receive academic credit for their educational achievements.
• Facilities should offer GED preparation and testing to qualified prison
inmates
• and juveniles confined in jails for at least 6 months. Youth who are
• in disciplinary isolation or are otherwise unable to attend school for a
significant
• period of time must be provided with a reasonable level of education
• services. Bureau of Justice Assistance 10/2000

9. DOJ Mandates for Educof Youths #3
• Federal regulations through IDEA
guarantees special education services to
• juveniles (up to age 21) in adult facilities
as a constitutional right. Although
• there are no national figures on the
number of special education
• youth who are incarcerated, it is estimated
at between 30 and 50 percent
• require this service. BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE 10/2000

10. DOJ Mandates #4 About Girls
• Further, the gender-specific needs of girls
in the adult correctional system deserve
equal attention. The expertise of the staff
in these areas appears to be a critical link
to the quality of services and the orderly
operation of the facility BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE 10/2000

11. Majority Opinion
• By a vote of 5-4, the U.S. Supreme Court on March 1,
2005 held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments
forbid the execution of offenders who were under the
age of 18 when their crimes were committed.
Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority (Kennedy,
Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter, and Stevens, JJ.) stated:
• When a juvenile offender commits a heinous crime, the
State can exact forfeiture of some of the most basic
liberties, but the State cannot extinguish his life and his
potential to attain a mature understanding of his own
humanity. (U. S. Supreme Court Opinion, March 1,
2005)

12. New York& North Carolina
• New York continues to be the only state other than North
Carolina that prosecutes ALL youth as adults when they turn 16
years of age.
• March 30, 2015
• Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently introduced a new
campaign aimed at reforming how the New York state
justice system treats juvenile offenders. The campaign,
aptly titled Raise the Age, aims to increase the age of
criminal responsibility to 18. New York City is currently
one of only two states that automatically prosecutes
teenagers ages 16 and up as adults.
• Washington Square News, March 30, 2015

13. Life sentences for youths
• Nationwide, there are 1200 people serving
life sentences without parole for crimes
committed when they were children. No
central agency tracks these sentences, so
reliable numbers are hard to come by. A
2008 Amnesty International/Human Rights
Watch (HRW) report counted 2484 such
people. Al Jazeera America (2015)

14. Juvenile Lifers
• The new survey says more than 60
percent of juveniles locked up for life aren't
enrolled in classes or educational
programs in prison. Not because the
inmates don't want to go, but because
budget tightening and prison rules block
many people with life sentences from
taking part. Aired on NPR 3/20/12 at
3:11 pm

15. Michigan & Juvenile Lifers
• Despite a global consensus that children cannot be held
to the same standards of responsibility as adults, in the
last twenty years the trend in the United States has been
to punish children the same as adults. Children are
increasingly excluded from the protection of juvenile
courts based on the nature of the offense, without any
consideration of their maturity, culpability, or current or
future danger to society.
• In particular, Michigan allows a child of any age to be
tried as an adult, and excludes seventeen-year olds from
juvenile treatment altogether. ACLU Report January 1,
2006 (In Arizona it’s 14 years of age)

16. NEW YORK JUV. EDUCATION
• In New York, educational
services of youths in prison
are provided by the public
school teachers of the school
district where the prison is
located.

17. *EDUCATING YOUTHS ON LONG TERM PRISON SENTENCES
• ESTABLISH A PATTERN OF AN INTAKE INTERVIEW FOR NEW
STUDENTS
• EXPLORE BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR STUDENTS
• USE BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE TO LIMIT THE SETTING BETWEEN
YOU AND THE STUDENTS
• POSSESS A KNOWLEDGE OF SOMETHING SPECIFIC ABOUT EVERY
STATE & USE THIS SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE TO ENGAGE THE
STUDENTS ABOUT WHERE THEY’RE COMING FROM OR WHERE
THEY GREW UP….FOR EXAMPLE, AMONG ARIZONA YOUTHS,
BECOME AWARE OF ALL THE COUNTIES, & HAVE A BASIC
KNOWLEDGE ABOUT EVERY COUNTY. START WITH THE COUNTY
WHERE YOU LIVE & EXPAND YOUR HORIZON WITH THE NEXT
COUNTY.
• DO NOT SPELL IT OUT, BUT US STYLE TO CONVEY THAT
EDUCATION IS NOT PART OF THE PUNISHMENT FOR THEIR CRIMES

18. Prison Life of Juvenile Lifers after aging out
of Educational Services
• Two-third of them receive GED/HS diploma
before aging out of school services.
• 24% of those who didn’t graduate while young
continue to pursue GED AS ADULTS.
• As years in prison pass, juvenile lifers are
charged with declining numbers of disciplinary
actions.
The Sentencing Project, 1705 DeSales Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036

19. MAKE THE CLASSROOM AN EXTENDED HOME FOR THE YOUTHS
(NOTE: Do not cross the legal line, because you’re in prison)
• Children in the outs spend more time at school than in their homes, so your
classroom in the prison is just the same
• Eat lunch with them, allow them to play basketball on Fridays, create Free
Choice Events on Fridays, especially during the second half of the day.
• Jeopardy games (Winners get special pencils)
• Bingo Games (participate in the bingo game as a player)
• Allow letter writing to families & friends during class on Fridays, &
encourage them to keep in touch with fathers & family members that they
dislike.
Punctuality & Regularity should be your motto.

20. CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION TIME
• MAKE YOUR WEEKLY LESSON PLAN AVAILABLE TO EVERY
STUDENT
• PROVIDE WHOLE GROUP INSTRUCTION ON VARIOUS TOPICS
DURING EVERY SINGLE CLASS SESSION (approx for 30 mins)
• TASK EVERY STUDENT TO SELF-MONITOR AND COMPLETE
EVERY ASSIGNMENT DESIGNATED FOR HIM/HER DURING
THE WEEK
• MAKE SURE THAT EVERY STUDENT IS ENGAGED WITH HIS
OR HER OWN ACTIVITY (e.g., students with GED must be enrolled
asap in a college distance

21. Post GED Curriculum
• IN THE INTERIM BETWEEN EARNING A GED &
STARTING A COLLEGE COURSE, MAKE THE
STUDENT ATTEND CLASSES. PROVIDE JOB
SKILLS, RESUME WRITING, TYPING SKILLS, MAKE
HIM OR HER AN ASSISTANT IN THE CLASS, ETC.
• SUBSCRIBE TO LOCAL PAPER (IT’S FREE FOR
EDUCATORS)….YOUR LESSON PLAN WILL ALLOW
YOU TO BRING IN A NEWSPAPER
• ALLOW ART WORK, POEM WRITING, GAMES, ETC.

22. Status of the juvenile death penalty prior to
Roper v. Simmons by state
• No Death Penalty for Juveniles
(31 States)
• California
Colorado
Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Maryland
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Ohio
Oregon
S. Dakota
Tennessee
Washington
Wyoming
US Govt
US Military
PLUS: 12 States with no death penalty

23. No Juvenile Offenders Executed Since 1976
(43 States)
• ALL STATES EXCEPT:
Texas
So. Carolina
Louisiana
Missouri*
Georgia
Virginia
Oklahoma
*Now Banned

24. No Juveniles Currently on Death Row
(38 States)
• ALL STATES EXCEPT:
Texas
Alabama
Louisiana
Arizona
Mississippi
No. Carolina
Florida
Georgia
So. Carolina
Pennsylvania
Virginia
Nevada

25. No Death Penalty
(12 States)
• Alaska
Hawaii
Iowa
Maine
Mass.
Michigan
Minnesota
No. Dakota
Rhode Island
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wash, DC
Puerto Rico INFO FROM: DEATH PENALTY INFO CENTER