CHAPTER EIGHT: ALL GOD’S CHILDREN
1 The extraordinarily high rates ... The Chester Upland school district has in the past two
decades often ranked as the worst in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. James T. Harris
III, “Success amid Crisis in Chester,” Philly.com (February 16 , 2012 ), available at http://
articles.philly.com/ 2012 - 02 - 16 /news/ 31067474 _ 1 _school-district-curriculum-parents-and-
guardians, accessed April 30 , 2014.
2 Close to 46 percent ... In 2012 , it was estimated by the Census Bureau that 45. 6 percent
of Chester’s residents under the age of eighteen lived below the federal poverty level. U.S.
Census Bureau, 2008 – 2012 American Community Survey, Chester city, Pennsylvania.
3 Defendants who are deemed incompetent ... 50 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes §
7402.
4 Pennsylvania sentencing law was inflexible ... Until 2012 , anyone convicted of first- or
second-degree murder automatically received a sentence of life imprisonment without the
possibility of parole. 18 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 1102 ; 61 Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes § 6137. Life imprisonment without parole is possible, though no
longer mandatory, for juveniles convicted of first- or second-degree murder. 18
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 1102. 1.
5 “This is the saddest case I’ve ever seen”... Liliana Segura, “Throwaway People: Teens
Sent to Die in Prison Will Get a Second Chance,” The Nation (May 28 , 2012 ).
6 For a tragic crime committed at fourteen ... Segura, “Throwaway People”;
Commonwealth v. Garnett, 485 A. 2 d 821 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1984 ).
7 It wasn’t until 2008 that most states ... The Federal Bureau of Prisons adopted a policy
in 2008 that restricts the shackling of pregnant inmates. Federal Bureau of Prisons,
“Program Statement: Escorted Trips, No. 5538. 05 ” (October 6 , 2008 ), available at http://www.
bop.gov/policy/progstat/ 5538 _ 005 .pdf, accessed April 30 , 2014. Currently twenty-four
states have laws or policies that prevent or restrict the shackling of pregnant inmates or
inmates giving birth. Dana Sussman, “Bound by Injustice: Challenging the Use of Shackles
on Incarcerated Pregnant Women,” Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender 15 ( 2009 ): 477 ;
“State Standards for Pregnancy-Related Health Care and Abortion for Women in Prison,”
American Civil Liberties Union, available at http://www.aclu.org/maps/state-standards-
pregnancy-related-health-care-and-abortion-women-prison-map, accessed April 28 , 2014.
8 The guard appealed ... Garnett v. Kepner, 541 F. Supp. 241 (M.D. Pa. 1982 ).
9 She is one of nearly five hundred people ... Paula Reed Ward, “Pa. Top Court Retains
Terms for Juvenile Lifers,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (October 30 , 2013 ); “Juvenile Life
Without Parole (JLWOP) in Pennsylvania,” Juvenile Law Center, available at http://jlc.
org/current-initiatives/promoting-fairness-courts/juvenile-life-without-parole/jlwop-
pennsylvania, accessed April 26 , 2014.10 The correctional staff at the prison ... Meg Laughlin, “Does Separation Equal
Suffering?” Tampa Bay Times (December 17 , 2006 ).
11 Juveniles housed in adult prisons ... In enacting the Prison Elimination Act of 2003 ,