Former St. Louis Circuit Judge Evelyn Baker sentenced 16 year old Bobby Bostic to a 241-year sentence for armed robbery. That was 20 years ago! Now she’s hoping to right that wrong!
Baker has contacted The ACLU and asked to add her name to an amicus brief filed by 26 former judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials to ask the court to rule that their 2010 decision that prohibited a sentence of life without parole for juveniles should also apply to cases like Bostic’s.
Baker cited, “Scientists have discovered so much about brain development in the more than 20 years since I sentenced Bostic. What I learned too late is that young people’s brains are not static; they are in the process of maturing. Kids his age are unable to assess risks and consequences like an adult would. Overwhelming scientific research shows that children lack maturity and a sense of responsibility compared with adults because they are still growing. But for the same reason, they also have greater capacity for reform.”
You can read more about this case here.
Righting wrongs in our judicial system is something I strongly advocate and is the basis of the second book in my Erin Blake series: To Right The Wrongs (on sale Feb. 27, 2018).
