JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of about 80 inmates serving life sentences in Missouri for crimes they committed as minors, alleging the state's parole process fails to give them a fair chance to be released.
The MacArthur Justice Center at St. Louis filed the case this month in the U.S. District Court's western district of Missouri. It alleges that the Missouri Department of Corrections and the state Parole Board are disregarding the inmates' constitutional rights as youthful offenders.
MacArthur Justice Center staff attorney Amy Breihan said in a written statement that the Constitution "requires that youthful offenders be provided a meaningful opportunity to obtain release." A Missouri Department of Corrections spokesman declined to discuss the complaint with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
At issue is the state's compliance with a 2012 high court decision banning mandatory life without parole prison terms for minors. Missouri was one of several states that had been sentencing teens to life sentences without any individualized consideration of their youth or ability to be rehabilitated. In 2016, the court said its earlier ruling applies retroactively to those sentenced before 2012 - including the approximately 80 youthful offenders currently serving life sentences in Missouri.
Missouri lawmakers responded with legislation that provides that minors who were previously sentenced to mandatory life without parole and who have served 25 years can ask the parole board to review their sentences. The lawsuit, however, notes that parole has been denied in 90 percent of the parole board hearings held since November 2016 for youthful offenders serving life-without-parole sentences. Breihan said the hearings are short and don't focus on whether the offenders are rehabilitated.
The MacArthur Justice Center said corrections officials have warned that the organization's advocacy efforts are "essentially unwelcome and will not be permitted in the hearing room."
Mae C. Quinn, director of the justice center's St. Louis office, said the group will "continue to stand up for youthful offenders who are entitled to fair treatment and individualized consideration after serving decades in prison."