State's record on juvenile lifers under scrutiny
HARRISBURG -- Erik Van Zant was 14 when he murdered a woman in Philadelphia, a crime that got him a life sentence in 1989.
Now 35, Van Zant told the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that he is a changed man who deserves a second chance at freedom.
"Just as I once was a child but am no longer, I once committed a crime but am no longer a criminal," he said via video feed from the state prison at Graterford.
Ed McCann, chief of the homicide unit with the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, responded that releasing Van Zant would free a dangerous murderer.
"Van Zant entered (his victim's) home through her skylight, waited for her to come home, sexually assaulted her, stabbed her repeatedly and threw her down the steps," McCann said. "Are we going to take the chance that the perpetrator of such a savage act is rehabilitated and should walk among us once more?"
These were the two sides of testimony before Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, who called the hearing to find out why Pennsylvania has sentenced more juveniles to life in prison without parole than any other state or country in the world.
Pennsylvania has about 450 juvenile lifers, about one-fifth of the 2,380 people in the country who are serving life sentences without parole for crimes they committed before they turned 18, according to a study released last year by the University of San Francisco's Center for Law and Global Justice.
Law enforcement officials and victims' relatives, many of whom worry that those who murdered their loved ones could someday be released, presented one side of the four hours of testimony in a standing-room only hearing room.
"The justice system had offered me the best it had in the face of insurmountable tragedy: life without parole," said Bobbi Jamriska, whose pregnant, 15-year-old sister, Kristina Grill, was killed in 1993 by her ex-boyfriend in the West End.
"How could there be a way this could possibly be revisited?" she said. "You will subject in the state of Pennsylvania over 300 families to the pain of reliving the murder and death of their loved one all over again."
On the other side were scientists, sociologists and relatives of convicts who argue that the punishment is cruel because the brain does not fully develop until the mid-20s, meaning kids have less control over their actions and should not be held to adult standards for punishment.
"This is not about being soft or tough on crime," said Robert Schwartz, executive director of Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia. "Pennsylvanians must recognize that even the most serious youthful offenders are unformed and still changing."
Advocates also argued that black juveniles are far more likely to be sentenced to life without parole than any other race.
According to Human Rights Watch, one of every two black juveniles arrested for homicide in Pennsylvania -- but only one of three white juveniles arrested for the same crime -- is sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Bradley Bridge, an attorney with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, said one reason Pennsylvania has so many juvenile lifers is that even second-degree murder convictions require life without parole in prison. Someone who participates in a felony -- such as a robbery -- that leads to a murder can be imprisoned for life without committing the murder.
Greenleaf said his staff's research showed that more than 100 of the state's juvenile lifers were serving sentences for second degree murder.
Greenleaf said he will consider the testimony and decide whether to propose legislative changes to Pennsylvania's sentencing standards. He did not give a timeline.
