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Thursday, October 22, 2026
Courthouse News Service
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Thursday, October 22, 2026 | Back issues
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Sentencing Young People

The Washington Supreme Court ruled that “there is no meaningful cognitive difference between 17-year-olds and many 18-year-olds,” and courts must exercise the same discretion when sentencing a 17-year-old to die in prison as they do when sentencing 18- to 20-year-olds.

/ March 11, 2021
In this Monday, Jan. 4, 2021 file photo, a red tag hangs on a cell door, signifying an active COVID-19 case for its inhabitants at Faribault Prison, in Faribault, Minn. Just a few months ago, as COVID-19 cases spiked across the U.S., The Associated Press and The Marshall Project tallied cumulative rates of infection among prison populations. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP, file)

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Supreme Court ruled that “there is no meaningful cognitive difference between 17-year-olds and many 18-year-olds,” and courts must exercise the same discretion when sentencing a 17-year-old to die in prison as they do when sentencing 18- to 20-year-olds. 

Categories / Appeals, Criminal, Health

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