Lowenstein Clinic Urges U.N. to Call for Abolition of Life Sentences in U.S.

The Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic joined a Sept. 15 complaint, signed by more than 20 organizations, urging the United Nations to call for the abolition of life imprisonment in the United States.

The complaint asserts that life without parole and other extreme prison sentencing policies and practices in the United States violate a range of interrelated human rights. These include the prohibition against racial discrimination and the prohibition against torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, according to the statement. The signatory organizations conclude that by imposing extreme sentences that exceed life expectancy, “the United States deprives individuals of their human right to hope for a future outside of prison.”