Now, Batts' attorneys are fighting his sentence on the same grounds, saying lifelong imprisonment is just as cruel and unconstitutional for juveniles convicted of murder. Youth, the attorneys argue, have a greater capacity for rehabilitation than adults. And their brains aren't as fully formed as adults, so they shouldn't face the same penalties, no matter the crime, the attorneys say. The case is pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Nowhere is the issue more closely watched perhaps than in Pennsylvania, which leads the nation - and the world - in the number of minors it sends to prison for life, also known as "juvenile lifers," according to Human Rights Watch.
Although international law prohibits lifelong imprisonment for juveniles, the United States and Somalia are the only countries in the world that haven't ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international agreement that forbids life without parole for minors, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
According to 2008 state records, the most recent available, 444 inmates are in prison for life for crimes they committed before their 18th birthdays. However, Bradley Bridge, a defense attorney and reformer, says 2010's total tops 470.
More than 250 of Pennsylvania's inmates who were sentenced to life when they were juveniles have filed petitions citing the Graham ruling, asking judges to grant them an opportunity for parole. Many other inmates plan to file for relief, pending the outcome of the Batts case.
The reasons for Pennsylvania's top billing in the juvenile-
lifer count are rooted in tough state laws.
Anyone accused of murder in Pennsylvania - at any age - is automatically charged as an adult. Although they can petition to be decertified and tried as juveniles, many still end up in adult courts.
