wr2014_web_0

WORLD REPORT 2014ers continue to receive life without parole sentences for homicide crimes. In2012, Human Rights Watch reported that of 500 youth offenders serving lifewithout parole, nearly every one reported physical violence or sexual abuse byinmates or corrections officers.Youth are also sentenced to other extreme prison terms that are the functionalequivalent of life without parole because the sentence exceeds an averagelifespan. In September 2013, California passed a law creating a review processfor youth sentenced to adult prison terms, requiring the parole board to providea meaningful opportunity for release based on the diminished culpability ofyouth as compared to adults. In many cases this will mean earlier release.Federal law requires jurisdictions to register juveniles convicted of certain sexualoffenses on a national, publicly accessible online registry. Registrationimpacts youth offenders’ access to education, housing, and employment.The Rights of NoncitizensThere are approximately 25 million noncitizens in the US, nearly 12 million ofwhom are in the country without authorization.The vast network of immigration detention centers in the US now holds about400,000 noncitizens each year. At any given time, hundreds of detainees areheld in solitary confinement. In September, US Immigration and CustomsEnforcement (ICE) announced it would limit but not ban the use of solitary confinement.The criminal prosecution of immigration offenses, which historically had beenlargely dealt with through deportation and other non-criminal sanctions, continuesto increase. In 2012, immigration cases constituted 41 percent of all federalcriminal cases; illegal reentry is now the most prosecuted federal crime. Manyof those prosecuted have minor or no criminal history and have substantial tiesto the US such as US citizen family members they were seeking to rejoin whenarrested.In 2013, after years of inaction, the US Congress began debating a major overhaulof the US immigration system. In June, the Senate passed a bill that wouldcreate a path to citizenship for millions of unauthorized immigrants and allowfor greater consideration of the right to family unity in some deportation deci-646