Equal Justice Initiative: Challenging Abusive Punishments of Juveniles

As part of this work, the EJI seeks to end the practice of sentencing children under the age of 14 as adults, to end the placement of anyone under the age of 18 in adult prisons, and to end life imprisonment without parole and other excessive sentences given to children. In an effort to spread awareness of children in prisons across the country, EJI, put together a publication called All Children are Children: Challenging Abusive Punishments of Juveniles.The United States is the only country in the world to sentence children to die in prison. Currently about 10,000 Americans under the age of 18 are in adult prisons. As of 2014, 14 states had no minimum age for adult prosecution. The Equal Justice Initiative is working to provide legal assistance to juveniles sentenced to die in prison, to end juveniles being placed in adult prisons where there are at a higher risk of assault and sexual violence, and to challenge the prosecution of young children as adults.

To read All Children are Children: Challenging Abusive Punishments of Juveniles click here.