Strong "Frontline" documentary about kids under 18 who are given life sentences without parole.
It's shocking to see the story of these kids, for whom the punishment is clearly out of line – one is an accessory to a murder, not the killer himself. Another murdered his parents – horrible of course - but was being physically beaten and sexually abused. Many clearly had inadequate council.
And it turns out the U.S. is party to an international treaty on human rights that specifically outlaws the use of 'life without parole' on minors, but has begged off, saying it's only used on cases of the 'worst of the worst'; kids beyond any hope of rehabilitation who will always be a danger to society. But as the kids profiled in the show demonstrate, that is clearly far from the case at least some of the time.
The show also points out that the U.S. has over 2200 kids serving a 'life without parole' sentence. The rest of the world combined? 12.
The filmmaking isn't anything that special, and I wish there had been more detail about some of the cases, even if fewer were reviewed, but there's no questioning that there is something terribly wrong in the sentencing part of our legal system, and this film will open your eyes to it.
