James Windell

Why All Juvenile Life Without the Possibility of Parole Sentences Should be Banned             When the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 ruled that mandatory life without the possibility of parole sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional, they cited several reasons for this decision.             Drawing on brain science, a majority of the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court       acknowledged that juveniles have a lesser degree of culpability than do adults and they also said that young people have a greater “capacity for change” than do adults. But when we were researching and writing our recently-released book “Sentencing Youth to Life in Prison: Justice Denied,” we found an additional reason that was overlooked by the Supreme Court. This other reason why we believe it unfair to sentence juveniles to long prison terms has to do with race. ...

                 How did I decide I wanted to write this book “Sentencing Youth to Life in Prison: Justice Denied”?             It is sometimes difficult to remember exactly what leads an author to write a particular book. However, I think my motivation to write this book goes back more than 30 years to my very first book. But the motivation, I believe, is also related to my experiences as a parent, my work as a psychologist with parents and children, and my years as a parent trainer – both inside and outside of the juvenile court.             I wrote my first book in 1990 at a time when parents thought almost exclusively about punishment as the only acceptable way of responding to the misbehavior of children. It was a time when spanking and physical punishment of children was still used by a majority of parents, although r...

  We really appreciate the wonderful endorsement of our book from Ashley Nellis, Ph.D., Senior Research Analyst, The Sentencing Project, Campaign to End Life Imprisonment. Dr. Nellis wrote: “Milliken-Boyd and Windell's book provides an essential indictment of America's harshest punishment for young people – life imprisonment. The authors carefully explain the history of life sentences imposed on youth focusing on states that use the sentence most. They then combine this in a unique way with profiles of individuals sentenced to life. The narrative and quantitative research provided in their book makes a strong case for abolishing life sentences for youth.”             “Sentencing Youth to Life in Prison: Justice Denied” will be published by Routledge on  April 8, 2022.             To preorder the book, go to Amazon.com books at: https://www.amazon....