I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3305 

To establish a meaningful opportunity for parole or similar release for child 

offenders sentenced to life in prison, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 1, 2011 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself and Mr. CONYERS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a meaningful opportunity for parole or similar 

release for child offenders sentenced to life in prison, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Juvenile Justice Ac5 countability and Improvement Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Historically, courts in the United States 

9 have recognized the undeniable differences between 

10 adult and youth offenders. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3305 IH

1 (2) While writing for the majority in Roper v. 

2 Simmons (125 S. Ct. 1183), a recent Supreme 

3 Court decision abolishing use of the death penalty 

4 for juveniles, Justice Kennedy declared such dif5 ferences to be ‘‘marked and well understood’’. 

6 (3) Notwithstanding such edicts, many youth 

7 are being sentenced in a manner that has typically 

8 been reserved for adults. These sentences include a 

9 term of imprisonment of life without the possibility 

10 of parole. 

11 (4) The decision to sentence youthful offenders 

12 to life without parole is an issue of growing national 

13 concern. 

14 (5) On May 17, 2010, the Supreme Court de15 cided Graham v. Florida, 130 S. Ct. 2011 (2010), 

16 which held that Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Un17 usual Punishments Clause does not permit a juvenile 

18 to be sentenced to life in prison without parole for 

19 a non-homicide crime, and that sentences of life 

20 without parole for such cases is unconstitutional. 

21 (6) While there are no youth serving such sen22 tences in the rest of the world, research indicates 

23 that there are over 2,500 youth offenders serving life 

24 without parole in the United States. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3305 IH

1 (7) The estimated rate at which the sentence of 

2 life without parole is imposed on children nationwide 

3 remains at least 3 times higher today than it was 15 

4 years ago. 

5 (8) The majority of youth sentenced to life 

6 without parole are first-time offenders. 

7 (9) Sixteen percent of these individuals were 

8 age 15 or younger when they committed their 

9 crimes. 

10 (10) According to the Bureau of Prisons, the 

11 annual cost of incarcerating an inmate is $28,284. 

12 In light of this figure, the total cost of incarcerating 

13 a juvenile for life will be millions of dollars. 

14 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHING A MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITY FOR 

15 PAROLE FOR CHILD OFFENDERS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

17 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—For each fiscal year after 

18 the expiration of the period specified in subsection 

19 (d)(1), each State shall have in effect laws and poli20 cies under which each child offender who is serving 

21 a life sentence receives, not less than once during 

22 the first 15 years of incarceration, and not less than 

23 once every 3 years of incarceration thereafter, a 

24 meaningful opportunity for parole or other form of 

25 supervised release. This provision shall in no way be 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3305 IH

1 construed to limit the access of child offenders to 

2 other programs and appeals which they were rightly 

3 due prior to the enactment of this Act. 

4 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

6 General shall issue guidelines and regulations to in7 terpret and implement this section. 

8 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section and section 4, the 

9 term ‘‘child offender who is serving a life sentence’’ means 

10 an individual who— 

11 (1) is convicted of one or more offenses where 

12 any act or acts in furtherance of the offense or of13 fenses was committed before the individual attained 

14 the age of 18; and 

15 (2) is sentenced, for such an offense or of16 fenses, to a term of imprisonment of life, or of any 

17 number of years exceeding 15 years, cumulatively. 

18 (c) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply to indi19 viduals sentenced before, on, or after the date of the enact20 ment of this Act. 

21 (d) COMPLIANCE AND CONSEQUENCES.— 

22 (1) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Each State shall have 

23 not more than 3 years from the date of enactment 

24 of this Act to be in compliance with this section, ex25 cept that the Attorney General may grant a 2-year 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3305 IH

1 extension to a State that is making a good faith ef2 fort to comply with this section. 

3 (2) CONSEQUENCE OF NONCOMPLIANCE.—For 

4 any fiscal year after the expiration of the period 

5 specified in paragraph (1), a State that fails to be 

6 in compliance with this section shall not receive 10 

7 percent of the funds that would otherwise be allo8 cated for that fiscal year to that State under sub9 part 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

10 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

11 3750 et seq.), whether characterized as the Edward 

12 Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program 

13 or otherwise. 

14 (3) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated 

15 under a program referred to in paragraph (2) to a 

16 State for failure to be in compliance with this sec17 tion shall be reallocated under that program to 

18 States that are in compliance with this section. 

19 SEC. 4. NOTICE TO VICTIMS. 

20 Each State that has in effect laws and policies in ac21 cordance with the requirements of section 3 shall, not later 

22 than 1 year after the date of compliance with such sec23 tion— 

24 (1) provide notice to the public of such laws 

25 and policies, which shall include— 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3305 IH

1 (A) a description of the opportunities for 

2 parole or supervised release available to child 

3 offenders who are serving a life sentence, and 

4 how those opportunities differ from the laws 

5 and policies in effect before compliance with 

6 section 3; and 

7 (B) the name and contact information of 

8 the office, agency, or other entity that may be 

9 contacted for additional information about such 

10 laws and policies, including the application of 

11 such laws and policies to a child offender who 

12 is serving a life sentence, by a victim who was 

13 directly and proximately harmed as a result of 

14 an offense described in section 3(b) that was 

15 committed by such a child offender; and 

16 (2) provide procedures whereby a victim who 

17 was directly and proximately harmed as a result of 

18 an offense described in section 3(b) that was com19 mitted by a child offender who is serving a life sen20 tence may, upon request, receive information about 

21 the specific opportunities for parole or supervised re22 lease to be provided to such child offender in accord23 ance with such laws and policies, including dates of 

24 parole or supervised release hearings and notice of 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3305 IH

1 decisions granting or denying parole or supervised 

2 release. 

3 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHING A PARALLEL SYSTEM FOR CHILD 

4 OFFENDERS SERVING LIFE SENTENCES AT 

5 THE FEDERAL LEVEL. 

6 Section 3624 of title 18, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘A prisoner’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘Except as otherwise provided by law, 

10 a prisoner’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(g) OPPORTUNITY FOR RELEASE FOR CHILD OF13 FENDERS SERVING A LIFE SENTENCE.—Not later than 

14 1 year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

15 the Attorney General shall establish and implement a sys16 tem of opportunity for release that will apply to child of17 fenders who are serving a life sentence (as defined in sec18 tion 3 of the Juvenile Justice Accountability and Improve19 ment Act of 2009) for Federal offenses. The system shall 

20 conform as nearly as practicable to the laws and policies 

21 required of a State under section 3(a) of such Act and 

22 shall include provision for the same or similar notice to 

23 victims as States are required to provide under section 4 

24 of such Act. The system shall be in addition to any other 

25 method of release that might apply to such an offender.’’. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3305 IH

1 SEC. 6. GRANTS TO IMPROVE LEGAL REPRESENTATION OF 

2 CHILDREN FACING OR SERVING LIFE IN 

3 PRISON. 

4 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Attorney General 

5 shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, award 

6 grants to States to improve the quality of legal representa7 tion of certain child defendants and child offenders by pro8 viding for competent legal representation for individuals 

9 who— 

10 (1) are charged with committing an offense, be11 fore the individual attained the age of 18, that is 

12 subject to a sentence that may include a term of im13 prisonment of life, or the functional equivalent in 

14 years or more; or 

15 (2) are convicted of an offense committed be16 fore the individual attained the age of 18, and are 

17 sentenced to a term of imprisonment of life, or the 

18 functional equivalent in years or more, for that of19 fense, and who seek appellate or collateral relief, in20 cluding review in the Supreme Court of the United 

21 States. 

22 (b) LEGAL REPRESENTATION.—In this section, the 

23 term ‘‘legal representation’’ means legal counsel and inves24 tigative, expert, and other services necessary for com25 petent representation. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3305 IH

1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 such sums as may be necessary. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS