Across the country, juvenile offenders are being released from prison based on recognition they are not as mature as adults. In Illinois, many who commit crimes as teenagers are still likely destined to die in custody.
The Illinois House of Representatives is considering a bill that would give young offenders the opportunity for parole. Despite earlier hopes of advocates, the bill would give the decision to the Prisoner Review Board, an agency whose decisions, an Injustice Watch review found, are often inconsistent and arbitrary.
After all but giving up hope of release by the agency tasked with considering their parole, two inmates are searching for other ways out of prison.