Giving Compass' Take:

• Abbie VanSickle explains that William Palmer is appealing the California Supreme Court to reduce the harsh sentence he received for a crime committed when he was Seventeen. 

• How can funders work to advance criminal justice reform in the U.S.?

• Read about criminal justice reform in the U.S.

When William Palmer was 17, he accosted a man in a parking garage, pointing a gun at him and demanding money. Palmer ordered the man to go to an ATM and withdraw cash.

Palmer didn’t know it, but the victim was an off-duty police officer, who pulled out his own gun and shot at the teen 15 times, hitting him in the knee. Palmer ran but was soon caught.

It was 1988. Many states had recently passed laws increasing criminal sentences. A judge sent Palmer to prison for life with a chance for parole.

Decades later, California’s lawmakers began to rethink how the criminal justice system treats teenagers who commit crimes. Prompted by a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, they approved measures aimed at giving people like Palmer another chance, including offering early release to prisoners convicted as youths.

Over the years, the parole board repeatedly rejected Palmer’s requests for release. Even after the new law, it turned him down a tenth time. He finally got out after filing a court appeal.

Now, Palmer’s appeal is before the California Supreme Court, which is poised to decide whether the board properly took his youth into account.

If Palmer loses, he could be returned to prison, where he’d once again have to prove himself to the parole board.

If he wins, it could ease the path for release for thousands.

Read the full article about William Palmer by Abbie VanSickle at The Marshall Project.