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Paul LaRuffa suffered five gunshot wounds in 2002, all at the hands of a 17-year-old boy, who he said 鈥渓eft [him] for dead.鈥�
鈥淏ut, obviously, I was blessed enough to survive,鈥� LaRuffa said at a news conference Monday morning.
Channeling his pain into advocacy, LaRuffa spoke in favor of a bill sponsored by Del. Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George鈥檚) and Sen. Christopher R. West (R-Baltimore County) seeking to give people convicted of life sentences as minors a second chance at release.
罢丑别听聽would allow courts to consider resentencing juvenile lifers after they鈥檝e spent a minimum of 20-years in prison and have demonstrated that they鈥檙e no longer a danger to the public.
LaRuffa stressed that this bill鈥檚 passage would not guarantee that anyone is released.
鈥淲hat this bill does is it gives hope: it gives hope to people, who are facing 30, 40, 50, 60 years behind bars, and the only thing they know is that they will die behind the same walls they look at today,鈥� he said.
Lewis said that the Juvenile Restoration Act would provide offenders staring down long sentences a meaningful chance at review through sentencing hearings involving their victims.
鈥淲e believe that 鈥� it鈥檚 not morally defensible for [people] to die in jail for things that they did when their brains weren鈥檛 fully developed,鈥� he said.
West clarified that these offenders will have spent more than half of their lives in prison before they would be eligible to be resentenced. He said that a lot of the cells in their bodies will have regenerated by that point, making them 鈥渜uite literally鈥� different people.
鈥淏ut beyond this,鈥� West continued, 鈥渁 person鈥檚 brain doesn鈥檛 fully mature until he鈥檚 25, and with maturity comes different thinking, different attitudes, a different approach to life.鈥�
In recent years, the Supreme Court has聽聽that childhood brain development should be taken into account when convicting juvenile offenders, as well, ruling it unconstitutional to sentence minors to death or mandatory life without parole sentences.
鈥淧eople can change; redemption is possible,鈥� said West. 鈥淲hen that happens, as a society, we should rejoice. Keeping someone in prison who committed a youthful crime and who has spent decades in jail but has transformed his life and is no longer a threat to society is hard to defend.鈥�
Lewis said that the law wouldn鈥檛 only put the state in line with Supreme Court precedent, but with neighboring states, too: Washington, D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio all have passed legislation to address juvenile lifers while Maryland lags behind.
LaRuffa said Monday that these bills have led to the release of nearly 700 people, almost none of whom have reoffended.
That was evidenced by Eddie Ellis, a former juvenile offender who has spent the past 15 years advocating for justice and reentry reform. He currently works with the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth.
鈥淧ersonally, I went to prison at the age of 16 because someone lost their life in my case, unfortunately, and I take full responsibility for my actions then, as well as now,鈥� Ellis explained. 鈥淛ustice should not be about revenge but about rehabilitation, and within rehabilitation is responsibility and accountability.鈥�
鈥淚 was one of the kids that was condemned at the age of 16, and I鈥檝e proven in last 15 years that change is possible,鈥� he continued. 鈥淎nd there鈥檚 thousands of us who are home who have also proven the same thing.鈥�
