“Life After Life” is a unique community of formerly incarcerated men and women who were sentenced to a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole, also known as Death by Incarceration, for involvement in a homicide as children. In a landmark decision in 2012, the United States Supreme Court declared the mandatory imposition of a life without the possibility of parole sentence upon a child younger than 18 years of age to be cruel and unusual punishment and therefore prohibited under the 8th Amendment to the United States Constitution. As a group of forward-thinking advocates, civic-minded civilians, and individuals who directly benefited from this Supreme Court decision, we all recognized the need to formalize a group, spearheaded by former life-sentenced children. Collectively, we established “Life After Life” in an effort to help other former life-sentenced children and returning citizens transition into thriving, prosperous individuals after having spent multiple decades in prison.
Aside from developing adequate support services for returning citizens, we also endeavor to use our collective voice and unique perspectives as former life-sentenced children in order to:
- Enlighten policy-makers, stakeholders and the general public about the adverse consequences of imposing extremely lengthy sentences upon youthful offenders.
- Engage with media outlets in order to profile stories of transformation, healing and redemption.
- Support other child-advocacy organizations (and initiatives) that are headed by and/or informed by the collective wisdom gained from formerly incarcerated persons.
- Develop innovative youth outreach and at-risk teen intervention strategies using our collective experience, influence and mentoring capacity in order to curb the epidemic of violence, drug abuse and bullying that is rampant within many high schools across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania–including restorative justice practices, community healing & restoration.
QUOTES FROM FOUNDER ABD’ALLAH LATEEF’S PERSONAL ESSAY
I am fortunate enough to have been given a second chance at life. There are many others, both life-sentenced juvenile and adult offenders who remain fettered to an uncertain fate.
Then too, there are others, like myself, who are full of promise and potential but void of opportunities to fully integrate into society.
This is a collaborative endeavor. As human beings and global citizens we should celebrate one another just as we do the Court’s ruling.
Life After Life 