A new case filed in a Wyoming district court argues that a man's sentence of life in prison without parole was unconstitutional because of his age.

Christopher Hicks was 19 years old in 2006 when he was convicted of aiding and abetting, and conspiracy in two murders.

Now, Lauren McLane, a University of Wyoming law professor, argues that his sentence -- life in prison without the possibility of parole -- went against the state's constitution.

Most legal cases involving late adolescents have, based on legal precedent known as Roper, cited neuroscience research from 2004. More recent research shows that a human brain is still developing into a person's twenties. McLane wants the law to catch up.

"No one has looked at the new science and applied the new science. We have taken Roper's word, if you will, but so much has changed since then," she observed. "Science is far ahead of the law and far ahead of society."

Other common policies support this-including the age minimum of renting cars at 25 and the expiration for covering dependents on parents' health insurance at 26. McLane said she expects this case to advance to Wyoming's Supreme Court.

That's the level where judges interpret the state's constitution, which has unique elements that apply in this case. First, it requires that penal code be based on "the humane principles of reformation," she said.

McLane argues that a sentence of life without parole for a 19-year-old doesn't meet that requirement.

"This idea that whatever we do to people we incarcerate, it needs to be reform-based. There's nothing like that in the United States Constitution. There's nothing like that in pretty much 48 other state constitutions. So, that's pretty substantial to me," she continued.

Second, Wyoming's constitution outlaws "cruel or unusual punishment," unlike the U.S. Constitution, which bans a combination of the two. McLane added that could be a lower threshold to reach.


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When a 6-year-old girl in Florida had a temper tantrum in class, it seemed like a typical childhood moment.

But instead of calming the situation, a school resource officer placed her in a squad car, fingerprinted her and took a mug shot, which left lasting emotional scars.

Delvin Davis, senior policy analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the case highlights a troubling ongoing concern: disparities in how discipline is enforced, particularly for Black and brown children. This case and others are highlighted in his report, "Only Young Once: The Systemic Harm of Florida's School-to-Prison Pipeline and Youth Legal System."

"As you can imagine, it was a very traumatic experience for her," Davis explained. "She's older now, but still it has lingering on ongoing effects for her -- mentally and how she does well in school and how she interacts with other people, things like that -- and how she interacts with authority figures as well."

Following the case, in 2021, the Florida Legislature passed the "Kaia Rolle Act," which prohibits the arrest of children under age 7, except in cases involving a forcible felony. However, children as young as 7 can still be arrested and prosecuted in the state.

Davis' report examined how school discipline policies, combined with a significant increase in law enforcement presence in schools, have exacerbated the problem, particularly in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting. Davis noted it led to a sharp rise in school-based policing.

"Once you expel or suspend a kid from school, there's a higher correlation for dropout rates," Davis pointed out. "And pretty much the first step into the school to prison pipeline is a downward spiral, where you're more likely to see that kid detained later on, arrested later on and further on into the penal system."

At the heart of Davis's findings is a call for systemic change to ensure schools are places of support and growth, not gateways to the juvenile justice system. The report also pointed to solutions, emphasizing community-based programs as more effective alternatives to punitive discipline.


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Wyoming has the nation's highest rate of juvenile incarceration, and is one of only two states refusing federal funds to help.

In 2021, nearly 270 Wyoming juveniles were in placement facilities per every 100,000 youths, according to The Sentencing Project, nearly four times the national rate. Data show diversion programs such as therapy, tutoring, job-readiness programs and arts programming help keep youths out of the system.

Darya Larizadeh, director of California policy and capacity building at the National Center for Youth Law, said good diversion programs are community-based and in partnership with stakeholders such as law enforcement and probation officers.

"Good programs are narrowly tailored," Larizadeh stressed. "They're supporting youths where they are in terms of their strengths and needs. They're culturally relevant. And then meeting the needs of kids of all genders and different sexual orientations."

She acknowledged funding is a key piece, too. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention within the U.S. Department of Justice in 2023 gave out $47 million to support prevention and intervention programs. Wyoming and Texas were the only two states not participating this year.

One barrier in Wyoming is data. A state bill passed in 2022 charged the Department of Family Services with standardizing the collection of statewide juvenile justice information.

Damon DeBernardi, Sublette County deputy county attorney and member of the Wyoming State Advisory Council of Juvenile Justice, explained the challenges.

"Wyoming has 23 counties, but every county was doing things different regarding data collection, to even know what necessarily the problem was," DeBernardi observed. "Once that statewide data collection begins, it'll be interesting to see what comes from that."

Gov. Mark Gordon in a speech last week requested nearly $500,000 in supplemental budget funding to "continue providing behavioral health services to prisoners nearing release."


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The holiday season is a difficult time of year for families with children in Washington's youth detention centers. Families have limited access to children in prisons.

Rashida Robbins has a child in Green Hill School, a 180-bed facility in Chehalis. She said families were invited to holiday dinners in early December but noted it was long before Christmas and on that day, she said, there will be a hole in her home that cannot be filled.

"It's pretty tough, and the lack of access to him during these times makes it even tougher," Robbins explained. "The thought of him just sitting in a locked room makes it unbearable as a parent. It's really rough."

Gov. Jay Inslee has announced a proposal for a new youth facility to address overcrowding, specifically at Green Hill. Organizations, including Kids Are Kids and TeamChild, have criticized the plan, saying it does not address the current concerns at Green Hill.

Stacy Stanaway said unaddressed issues have been the case for her son, who suffered from behavioral challenges before he was sent to Green Hill. She added a disciplinary action meant she was not able to visit for the family holiday earlier in the month.

"We can't just isolate people from their family, from their community and expect things to just go away," Stanaway argued. "And so, with my son the holidays especially are really, really difficult for us because he has younger siblings, he has older siblings."

A spokesperson for Green Hill said because the holiday event involved a high number of visitors, the behavior expectations leading up to the event were "no physical aggression and drug use 30 days in advance" for safety reasons.

Stanaway acknowledged much of the healing for her boy will have to happen after he comes back from the youth facility.

"It's going to be a phase and a period of time that's going to take years, in reality, of recovery for my child," Stanaway stressed. "I feel that time is paused right now."

Robbins added sometimes, it feels like kids are never meant to get out of a facility like Green Hill. She implores state leaders to do something.

"I would challenge the people that have the power to make changes to do so and be on the right side of history," Robbins concluded.


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