Restore Justice needs your help to ensure fairness and consistency for people sentenced as youth!

Recent bipartisan reforms in Illinois have recognized children’s and young people’s brains are still developing and, therefore, have substantial capacity to mature and change. The youthful parole laws passed in 2019 and 2023 ensure no person 20 and younger can receive a life without parole sentence; they also extend parole consideration to most people 18-20. However, the youthful parole laws were not retroactive. People who were sentenced as children and young people before 2019 are still serving life without parole sentences.

Illinois is spending millions of dollars incarcerating people whose sentence no longer reflects the current understanding of a fair sentence.

House Bill 3332 would create a limited opportunity for people 20 years and younger at the time of their offense to petition the court for their sentence to be reviewed. This bill is important to ensure people receive individualized consideration on whether their sentence serves the interests of justice.