Restore Justice needs your help abolishing life without parole sentences for children and young adults in Illinois!

Twenty-five states and Washington, D.C. don’t allow ANY child to be sentenced to life without parole. It's time for Illinois to join them, and we are calling on the Illinois Senate to pass House Bill 1064 during the January lame duck session.

HB 1064 passed through the state House in April with bipartisan sponsors. It would prohibit life without parole sentences for most youth who were under the age of 21 when their crime was committed. Young people could still serve life in prison. This bill simply ensures they have a limited opportunity to be considered for parole.

“Granting a second chance at redemption to an impressionable, impulsive 15-year-old whose crime came maybe after years of abuse or living amid violence and poverty, is the decent thing to do. And it’s a view supported by the science of adolescent brain development, which has found through ample research that our brains are not fully developed — able to rein in rash behavior, make rational decisions and weigh the long-term consequences of actions — until our mid-20s,” the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board wrote in support of the bill.

Please follow the steps of this petition and ask your state senator to vote yes on HB 1064.