Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker recently signed a bill into law that will abolish life without parole sentences for defendants under the age of 21.
When the bill goes into effect in 2024, defendants who are serving a sentence for first degree murder or a term of natural life imprisonment, will be eligible for parole after serving 40 years of their sentence. The law makes Illinois the 26th state to end life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders.
Just because a crime is severe, doesn’t mean a legal minor doesn’t have the potential to be reformed, said House Rep. Rita Mayfield of Waukegan, according to the Lake and McHenry Scanner.
“I recognize that victims and their families may have concerns, and I don’t blame them. However, in a nation like ours, prison should be a place where people have the opportunity to transform themselves and become better people and productive members of society. I believe that giving everyone a chance at redemption is a moral duty,” Mayfield said.
Senator Donald DeWitte of St. Charles, who spoke on the senator floor in favor of the bill, said as a “law-and-order Republican,” he believes in rehabilitation.
I believe there are some people who make extremely poor decisions in the very early portions of their lives who deserve consideration once they have met benchmarks and shown they are prepared to become contributing citizens after they have served their debt to society,” DeWitte said.