Now, anybody convicted of a capital crime will get life in prison with no possibility of parole if he or she is not sentenced to death. Norris said the fact that juries aren't explicitly told that the defendent will never be permitted parole encourages them to choose the death sentence out of fear of the criminal being released. This is particularly important with juveniles, because they're so young. People are afraid they'll be back on the street in 10 years. Norris finds that it's also difficult to get the public to understand the nature of the system and how the death penalty actually works, because the prosecutorial process is so politicized.
Attorney generals across the country campaign on tougher crime penalties.
An Information Campaign Zoe Sanders Nettles was one of those people who didn't know that juveniles could be sentenced to death. A former prosecuter and current partner in the law firm of Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarbrough, she found out about the issue at a party. She felt that somebody needed to educate people about this issue and try to bring about an end to the practice of sentencing juvenile offenders to death in South Carolina. The organization was officially incorporated in December and is working on getting recognized non-profit status. It's such a large situation to take somebody's life.