Six inmates sat in the visiting room of California’s Corcoran State Prison, and each one held a piece of paper. The information in their hands was basic enough; it’s what anyone could find out about them on the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation website. But for these inmates meeting in September, the sheets contained something new. Sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP) as juveniles, they grew up behind bars and expected to die behind bars. But now where once was written “LWOP,” there was a parole-hearing date. All of them would have a chance for release.
For some, that date was coming soon; for others, it was more than a decade away. But it was there—a date.
The room was large and sunny, an open space not unlike a school cafeteria. In one corner, several guards stood watch. In the center, the inmates, a half-dozen law students, three former inmates, a law professor, and a human-rights worker sat in chairs arranged in a circle. They were here for a workshop designed to prepare juvenile LWOPs for parole, and the date on the paper was the first step.
[For more on this story by Katya Cengel, go to https://www.thenation.com/arti...p-prison-california/]
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