Each year, Texas spends more than $5 billion to incarcerate nearly 150,000 people in its state prisons, most of whom are people of color. And yet, 75% of young adults who enter this system reoffend within 3 years. Research has shown that far from being rehabilitative, in many cases, prison increases the likelihood of future harm and creates barriers for future success.
Project Partners
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Through our Youth Sentencing Project, we provide direct strategic litigation on behalf of youth who were tried in the adult criminal legal system and given extremely long prison sentences, particularly those sentenced to life without parole.
Youth should be held accountable for their wrongdoing in developmentally appropriate ways that consider their age, individual characteristics, and specific circumstances of their cases.
Our staff litigators take the lead on a limited number of cases every year, selecting those that have the potential to influence system-wide change. Last year, LSJA was involved in 13 cases challenging the transfer of youth (either as lead counsel or in a technical support role) and won 12 of these cases.
