Or rather, youths must serve life

In the entire world, only two countries sentence juvenile offenders to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Not North Korea and Iran. Not China and Burma. Not Sudan and Saudi Arabia. The countries are Israel and the United States. Israel has 7 such prisoners, the U.S. has 2,387. And among the states, California has the second highest number these convicts.

According to a new report, California has 227 prisoners who committed their crimes before becoming adults serving life with no chance of parole, a number exceeded only by Pennsylvania, which has 433.

It should be no surprise that in the United States, African-American youths are 10 times more likely to get life without parole. What is surprising, and very disturbing, is that in California, the statistic is 20 times more likely.

Tags: California, juvenile justice, life without parole, Pennsylvania, prisoners, racial disparity in sentencing