Status:

Enacted

Youth Justice

Youth Offender Parole (2013)

SB 260 and SB 261 (Hancock)

Location

California

NCYL is working nationally and in California to ban juvenile life without parole. Until 2012, the United States and Somalia were the only countries to sentence children to life in prison without parole. Thousands of youth are still serving this sentence, some of them for non-homicide offenses. As the public increasingly recognizes the inhumanity of treating adolescents as adults in the application of criminal laws and penalties, the campaign to eliminate youth sentences of life without parole has gained momentum.

Our Success & Impact

Get up to date on our latest work - from litigation and policy wins to new reports, resources, events and more.

Success and Impact

Campaign Helps Reform Juvenile Justice, Education Systems In Santa Clara County

NCYL's campaign to transform the juvenile justice and education system in California's Santa Clara County, launched in 2017, has had a significant...

Related Initiatives

Replace Harmful Punishment of Youth with Community-Based Supports

Research shows that the best way to ensure healthy outcomes for both youth and community is to stop harmful and traumatizing practices such as arrest and detention, and instead invest in comprehensive, community-based supports and services.

Related Cases

D.P. v. School Board of Palm Beach County

Police employed by the School District of Palm Beach County illegally use the Florida Mental Health Act, also known as the Baker Act, to subject hundreds of students each year to involuntary psychiatric examinations, without their parents' input, consent and, sometimes, over their objections.

Freeman v. County of Riverside

This lawsuit alleges Riverside County of illegally collecting juvenile administrative fees.

Sigma Beta XI v. County of Riverside

This lawsuit alleges that Riverside County, California, through its Probation office, targets, ensnares, and discriminates against children by stripping them of their constitutional rights.

Related Laws & Policy

See All Laws & Policy

End School-Based Ticketing (2024)

HB 3413 (Ford)

Ending the unjust practice of referring students to be ticketed for an incident that can be pursued through the school district’s discipline policy

Justice for Survivors (2024)

AB 2354 (Bonta)

AB 2354 is a crucial bill in California aimed at ensuring that all survivors of intimate partner violence, human trafficking, and other forms of violence can petition the court for vacatur relief,

Justice for Survivors (2023)

AB 1497 (Haney)

Creating meaningful pathways to justice for survivors of trauma, domestic violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking who are funneled into our criminal legal system is important for their healing and care, and to stop the further criminalization of victims. Often survivors of survivors of