The campaigning American lawyer tells how he fought for Ian Manuel, a 13-year-old black youth locked up in solitary confinement for 18 years
In 2007, when the Equal Justice Initiative first became involved in the issue of the incarceration of children as young as 13 in adult American prisons, there were at least 2,500 juveniles serving life imprisonment without parole. Focusing on the youngest children, and those facing that sentence for non-homicide crimes, Stevenson and his team argued in the Supreme Court that the practice was unconstitutional. The court ruled in 2012 that the mandatory death-in-prison sentences that some states continued to impose on children were impermissible. Prosecutors in many states still argue that the ruling should not be applied to those already serving their sentences. The EJI continues to seek a reduction in sentence for inmates such as Ian Manuel, whose story Stevenson tells below…
In 1990, Ian Manuel and two older boys attempted to rob a couple who were out for dinner in Tampa, Florida. Ian was 13 years old. When Debbie Baigre resisted, Ian shot her with a handgun given to him by the older boys. The bullet went through Baigre’s cheek, shattering several teeth and severely damaging her jaw. All three boys were charged with armed robbery and attempted homicide.
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