More than half of U.S. states have already banned life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles. North Carolina isn't one of them - yet.

In a panel discussion with the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, state Rep. Jon Hardister, R-Whitsett, said he backs the need for a scientific approach to address the issues of youth development and criminal justice.

"There needs to be retribution, punishment and so forth, and justice, when certain crimes are committed," he said, "but if the brain is not fully developed, I think we have to take that scientific fact into account."

Many advocates have argued that a sentence without the possibility of hope or incentive for self-improvement for the young offender falls short. However, critics of ending the threat of life sentences have voiced concerns about the impact on victims and public safety.

Also on the panel, North Dakota state Sen. Diane Larson, R-Bismarck, highlighted her state as an example of banning juvenile "life without parole" sentences. With unanimous approval of legislation in 2017, Larson said, North Dakota has prioritized the role of the parole board and eliminated the possibility of life without parole.

"We all think that people who commit terrible crimes should be held accountable; they should be answerable for their crimes," she said. "But there needs to be some opportunity for them to grow up, learn from what they've done, make better choices."

Formerly incarcerated at 16, panelist Anthony Willis spent more than two decades in a North Carolina prison for murder. He received clemency from Gov. Roy Cooper, and offered his own story as a testament to the power of change. Willis said he believes the possibility of eventually going home serves as a powerful motivator for people behind bars, thus fostering a safer environment for prisoners and staff.

"As a teenager, it's very hard to go to prison as a child. Everything that you were taught from your parents, that goes out the window," he said. "It's a totally different culture while you're in prison and you don't really have that guidance, that mentor, that person to try to help you develop into an adult. So, if you have a 'life without parole' sentence, there is no incentive at all to do the right thing."

Willis and others said the key to North Carolina changing its juvenile sentencing practices lies in considering all parties, focusing on rehabilitation and determining the resources needed for successful re-entry.


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Nearly 2,000 South Dakota juveniles were successfully diverted from the state's court system this year, according to a new report.

A 2024 law has added fiscal incentive for counties to continue these diversion efforts.

When low-risk youth are diverted from the court system, they are 45% less likely to reoffend, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Diversion can take many forms, from mural-painting to skateboarding programs.

State's Attorney Lara Roetzel in Pennington County, where diversion programs have been used for about 25 years, said they can help unveil the root cause of a child's misbehavior.

"Diversion gives you a chance to really get to know that young person, and get them the help that they need," said Roetzel, "because it's not always obvious."

For example, she said, a child caught stealing may be doing so to support a drug habit - and would be best served through addiction counseling.

The Department of Social Services has also expanded community-based treatment options for youth, including functional family therapy and aggression replacement therapy, according to a draft 2024 report from the state's Juvenile Justice Oversight Council.

When a child avoids court or incarceration, the state saves money - so the state compensates counties for the cost per child of successful diversions.

South Dakota Senate Bill 47, passed this year, increased the amount paid from $250 to $750 per child. Roetzel said that allows the diversion programming to continue.

"It meant that I just wrote a check this week," said Roetzel, "that will allow me to pay for classes for almost all of the young people that will go through my juvenile diversion programs next year."

This is particularly helpful, she said, because otherwise the outstanding costs land on parents - who often can't afford to pay them.




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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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