5-1-19 aclu sues to give wisconsin juvenile lifers a chance at parole

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Tuesday demanding a federal judge ensure Wisconsin prisoners sentenced to life as juveniles receive a “meaningful and realistic” chance at parole.  The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of five prisoners who were effectively sentenced to life as juveniles on homicide related-charges in the 1980s and 1990s. All of them have been denied parole at least once. One of them, Thaddeus Karow, has been denied six times, according to the filing.    ACLU legal director, Larry Dupuis tells WFDL news the lawsuit alleges that Wisconsin law doesn’t lay out any standards the state Parole Commission must use when making release determinations and the commission doesn’t evaluate juvenile lifers’ maturity and rehabilitation.  “The current rules do not require the commissioners to take into account whether the person has demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation which are the very things the Supreme Court requires be the primary conditions for release,”  Dupuis said.  The filing goes on to argue that scientific and psychological studies show children lack maturity and a sense of responsibility so their culpability in crimes is diminished. Life sentences imposed on children are unconstitutional without a real chance at release based on maturity and rehabilitation, the lawsuit contends.  Dupuis is a guest Wednesday on AM 1170s Between the Lines program.