Letter to the editor: Response to article about prisoners who could have chance at parole

Juveniles getting life without parole

Regarding the Oct. 31 article, “These Ohio prisoners are getting parole hearings sooner under new law,” I spent a large part of my career in juvenile corrections. I am currently president of the Juvenile Justice Coalition of Ohio, advocating for youth affected by the juvenile justice system.

I want to clarify the parole process, since it wasn’t fully explained in the article. Only those youth who show rehabilitation and remorse and that they will not be a danger to the community may be released. By the time that most are eligible for a parole hearing, they will have spent more time in prison than outside of it. This law gives kids a reason to hope and to work toward rehabilitation.

These changes in the law reflect a growing understanding that the brain may not be fully developed until age 25. As a result, kids lack judgment, are more impetuous in decision making, don’t appreciate long-term consequences of their actions and are easily influenced by others.

I understand that revisiting these tragedies is retraumatizing for the victims’ families. Yet, the guiding principle of our justice system is to rehabilitate offenders. Sentencing a teenager to life without parole guarantees that that will not happen.

As mentioned in the article, the Ohio law was changed after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a child can’t be sentenced to life without the chance for parole for non-homicide offenses, and the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that life without parole for juveniles was not legal.

These kids made rash decisions and terrible mistakes and have served a lot of time for it. They are not the same people they were as teenagers. This is not a “get out of jail free card.” Our system must respond rationally.

Sharon Weitzenhof, Bath

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Opinion: Chance at parole reflects goal of rehabilitating offenders