# "No white juvenile offender has ever been given a life sentence" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250 "2020-02-20T18:33:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/1 "2020-02-20T18:33:56Z")
I was listening to an episode of the Dollop podcast where they brought up racism in American jail sentencing and made the weird claim that “No white juvenile offender who was tried as an adult has ever been sentenced to life in prison, but many black children have”. Does anyone know if this is true or not? And I’m not talking about discrepancy in sentencing, I’m curious if white children in general have never ever been given either life in prison or the death penalty. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/2 "2020-02-20T19:06:31Z")
[White Boy Rick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wershe_Jr.) ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/3 "2020-02-20T19:07:45Z")
Daniel Ash, sentenced to life in prison for a murder committed at age 17 > **[Daniel Ash to remain in prison for life](https://www.alexcityoutlook.com/news/daniel-ash-to-remain-in-prison-for-life/article_e91da028-4e82-11ea-8867-db04e203d20a.html)** > > Daniel Ash was 17 when he murdered 6-year-old Wendy Mancil in 1982 near Carrville. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/4 "2020-02-20T19:09:02Z")
False, here’s one right here, I would guess there are some others. [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WqlhaN27-yM](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WqlhaN27-yM) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/5 "2020-02-20T19:13:49Z")
The OP’s quoted statement is not true, although there are stark differences in sentencing depending on race. [cite](https://www.hrw.org/news/2005/10/11/united-states-thousands-children-sentenced-life-without-parole). > [@](#): > > Nationwide, black youth receive life without parole sentences at a rate estimated to be ten times greater than that of white youth (6.6 versus 0.6). In some states the ratio is far greater: in California, for example, black youth are 22.5 times more likely to receive a life without parole sentence than white youth. In Pennsylvania, Hispanic youth are ten times more likely to receive the sentence than whites (13.2 versus 1.3). ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/6 "2020-02-20T19:15:04Z")
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean\_Sellers](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Sellers) This white killer was executed as an adult for murders he committed as a juvenile. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/7 "2020-02-20T19:34:53Z")
The Dollop guys are funny, but they’re not really the best source of facts. Dave Anthony’s research tends to be limited to one or two main sources, and both he and Gareth tend to blurt out hazily remembered factoids as truth. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/8 "2020-02-20T19:54:18Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > The OP’s quoted statement is not true, although there are stark differences in sentencing depending on race. > > [cite](https://www.hrw.org/news/2005/10/11/united-states-thousands-children-sentenced-life-without-parole). Curious that California is the standout. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/9 "2020-02-20T19:57:38Z")
Several of the youths in _[Lost For Life](https://www.indiewire.com/2014/09/heres-the-story-behind-the-powerful-documentary-kids-behind-bars-lost-for-life-22690/)_ were white. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/10 "2020-02-22T00:32:26Z")
Do you remember the [Pam Smart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Smart) case from 1990 when a teacher got her student to kill her husband? The killer, a white 16-year-old boy, wasn’t the only juvenile to get a life sentence in that case. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/11 "2020-02-22T01:18:16Z")
> [@](#): > > June 17, 2011. The man who was convicted of killing Olympic wrestling champion Dan Gable’s sister has died in prison. > > John Thomas Kyle died Friday in a Kansas hospital following a heart attack earlier in the week while he was in Hutchinson Correctional Facility Central in Hutchinson, Kans., serving a life sentence in the death of Diane Gable, according to the Iowa Department of Corrections. Fred Scaletta, a spokesman with the Iowa Department of Corrections, said Kyle died of natural causes. He was 64 years old. > > Authorities said Kyle, the son of a bank president, was a 16-year-old high school dropout when he choked, beat and stabbed 19-year-old Diane Gable in May 1964. > **[John T. Kyle, killer of Dan Gable's sister, has died in Kansas prison](https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/john-t-kyle-killer-of-dan-gable-s-sister-has/article_cdaf32fa-9916-11e0-b5f8-001cc4c002e0.html)** > > WATERLOO, Iowa --- The man who was convicted of killing Olympic wrestling champion Dan Gable's sister has died in prison. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/12 "2020-02-22T01:51:23Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Curious that California is the standout. They have a three strikes law to cover state level crimes. Some juvenile crimes count as strikes. It was dialed back some [in 2012](https://www.courts.ca.gov/20142.htm) but the cite is even older. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Maple\_Leaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@The\_Maple\_Leaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Maple_Leaf)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/13 "2020-02-22T13:57:33Z")
Pshaw. As someone who watches the show “Deadly Women”, which includes features on underaged teenage girl killers, I can vouch that this claim is dog’s bollocks. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/14 "2020-02-22T17:08:25Z")
> [@The\_Maple\_Leaf](#): > > Pshaw. As someone who watches the show “Deadly Women”, which includes features on underaged teenage girl killers, I can vouch that this claim is dog’s bollocks. [hijack] In the interests of avoiding confusion and potential embarrassment, it should be pointed out that in UK slang [‘bollocks’ is a term of disapproval](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bollocks), but [‘the dog’s bollocks’ is one of very strong approval](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Dog%27s%20Bollocks). [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/15 "2020-02-23T00:02:37Z")
Functionally life–[The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review convicted killer Kipland P. Kinkel’s nearly 112-year prison sentence for fatally shooting his parents and then killing two students and wounding 24 others at Thurston High School more than 20 years ago](https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2019/01/nations-high-court-refuses-to-review-thurston-high-shooter-kip-kinkels-sentence.html). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/16 "2020-02-23T08:13:44Z")
I notice a lot of examples in this thread, but were they tried as juveniles? Juvenile has a different meaning in the legal system–it doesn’t just mean underage. My impression was that those tried as juveniles don’t get life sentences. My question would then be if there were any non-white people tried as juveniles who got life sentences. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-white-juvenile-offender-has-ever-been-given-a-life-sentence/848250/17 "2020-02-23T15:59:09Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I notice a lot of examples in this thread, but were they tried as juveniles? Juvenile has a different meaning in the legal system–it doesn’t just mean underage. > > My impression was that those tried as juveniles don’t get life sentences. My question would then be if there were any non-white people tried as juveniles who got life sentences. I’m sure someone will come along with an actual cite, but my understanding of the system is that juveniles that are tried as juveniles have their crimes generally forgotten when they reach adulthood, and are released from the system when they reach adulthood. The only juveniles that get a life sentence are tried as adults. So, no one who is tried as a juvenile is getting a life sentence.