About 60 juveniles convicted of murder could get out of prison sooner under NJ court ruling – Reverb MSN Music

The New Jersey Supreme Court has offered inmates serving life sentences for violent crimes committed as juveniles a glimmer of hope that they can one day get out of prison.

In a 4 to 3 decision, the state’s top court declared the practice of sentencing juvenile defendants to life in prison with no chance of parole for 30 years to be a form of “cruel and unusual punishment” and thus a violation of the state and federal constitutions.

The court imposed a remedy that allows inmates to petition for release once they’ve served 20 years behind bars. Juvenile inmates serving life sentences would still have to convince a judge they’ve been rehabilitated and pose no danger if released.

“The law recognizes what we all know from life experience—that children are different from adults,” Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote in the majority opinion. “Children lack maturity, can be impetuous, are more susceptible to pressure from others and often fail to appreciate the long-term consequences of their actions.”

The ruling emerged out of sentencing appeals filed by two inmates, James Comer and James Zarate, both of whom were juveniles when charged with murder and later tried as adults and convicted. Both initially received lengthy prison sentences that almost guaranteed they would never get out of jail.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a brief on behalf of Comer, estimates there are 60 inmates affected by the ruling. Most of those defendants are represented by the New Jersey Public Defender’s Office, which also argued the case before the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Comer was 17 years old in April 2000 when he joined in a robbery spree in Essex County in which one man was shot to death. Comer never fired a shot, but was convicted of felony murder and initially sentenced to 75 years in prison.

Zarate was just 14 when he joined his 18-year-old brother Jonathan in the grisly murder and dismemberment of Jennifer Parks, the teenager who lived next door in Randolph. The two brothers were accused of luring the girl to their basement, where they beat and stabbed her before dismembering her body and stuffing it into a trunk.

The following night, the Zarate brothers enlisted the help of another juvenile and tried to throw the trunk off the Union Avenue Bridge into the Passaic River, but were spotted by a police officer. Jonathan Zarate stood trial first and was convicted of murder.

James Zarate was tried as an adult, but maintained that he didn’t participate in the murder, only the dismemberment and the attempt to dispose of the remains. The jury didn’t buy it, and he was convicted of murder and desecration of human remains, and sentenced to life in prison, which equates to 75 years.

In 2017, Zarate succeeded in getting his sentence reduced to 50 years after the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a ruling in another juvenile case, State vs. Ricky Zuber. The Zuber decision says the state must provide juvenile killers with a meaningful chance at parole.

Armed with the Zuber decision, Comer and Zarate appealed their sentences once again, arguing that the 30-year bar on parole was too stiff. On Jan. 10, a divided state Supreme Court agreed and said inmates could be released after 20 years.

Comer, currently serving time at East Jersey State Prison turned 39 on the day of the Supreme Court ruling. He’s been locked up for 22 years, so he’s immediately eligible to apply for release. Zarate, who has been behind bars since 2005, can petition for release in about three years.

“When I first met James Comer, he told me he was going to die in prison,” said Alexander Shalom, the director of Supreme Court Advocacy for the ACLU.

Shalom said the Supreme Court ruling is both a humane and sane approach that recognizes that the acts of children should be judged in a different light than those of adults.

“What this decision does is restore hope,” Shalom said. “It doesn’t mean that everyone goes free. But it does mean that you have a chance to show you are a different person.”

Comer’s attorney, Larry Lustberg, said there have been numerous studies that favor rehabilitation. People tend to grow up and “age out” of crime, he said.

“The social science is overwhelming that most juveniles will be rehabilitated after 20 years,” he said. “We know this as a matter of brain science, that after 20 years most juvenile defendants are not going to be recidivists.”

New Jersey now joins 13 other states and the District of Columbia that have revised its juvenile sentencing statutes following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in a juvenile case, Miller Vs. Alabama, in 2012.

In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that youths have qualities that make them different than adults, and those qualities— immaturity, a lack of awareness of consequences, impulsiveness—must be considered as a factor in the criminal act.

“The Comer opinion really establishes the power of redemption as it applies to children,” said Joseph J. Russo, who argued the case for the New Jersey Public Defender’s Office. “And perhaps more importantly, the Comer opinion reaffirms the U.S. and New Jersey Supreme Court precedent that says children are constitutionally different and cannot be put in the same boat as mature adults.”

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