No More Life Sentences or Solitary Confinement for Kids

The government made two big decisions this week about the treatment of American children in the country’s criminal justice system. President Barack Obama, by executive order, banned solitary confinement of juveniles in federal prisons. And yesterday, the Supreme Court decided that state courts will have to hold new sentencing hearings for anyone now serving a mandatory life sentence they were given as a minor. The two decisions are being called a start in the effort to reform the American criminal justice system.