PROVIDENCE – The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island Inc. on Friday filed a petition in R.I. Superior Court challenging the state’s position on a law that allows early release for juvenile offenders.
The statute, known as “Mario’s Law” and enacted by the General Assembly in 2021, provides that “any person sentenced for any offense prior to his or her twenty-second birthday” is eligible for parole after serving 20 years. The law was passed in recognition of the fact that, as the U.S. Supreme Court has noted, “even when they commit terrible crimes,” juveniles lack the culpability of adults due to their immaturity and underdeveloped sense of responsibility and should therefore be given a second chance.
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ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorneys Lisa Holley, Sonja Deyoe and Lynette Labinger filed the petition Friday on behalf of Mario Monteiro, 39, who has been incarcerated his entire adult life after being sentenced to two life sentences for a murder he committed when he was 17 years old.
Calling it a “miscarriage of justice,” ACLU attorneys argue the R.I. Department of Corrections, the attorney general and the Parole Board have all taken the position that the statute does not apply to people such as Monteiro who are serving more than one sentence. Instead, they claim that despite already having served more than 20 years at the ACI, he must serve at least an additional 15 years on his second life sentence before he can be considered for parole.
The petition seeks a court order finding that Monteiro “has been unlawfully detained beyond the terms of his sentence, in violation of the laws of the State of Rhode Island governing parole and the United States and Rhode Island Constitutions.” The petition also asks the court to reject the state’s “arbitrary and capricious” interpretation of Mario’s Law, and to grant his immediate release to the community or return for consideration by the Parole Board “forthwith” to determine the conditions that would authorize his immediate release.
The ACLU petition also notes that this position would “effectively operate to nullify” the statute’s terms “and defeat its purposes” since most people serving a life sentence were already eligible for parole after 20 years without the passage of Mario’s Law.
Last year, ACLU action led to the release of three other people under Mario’s Law, whom the state had similarly argued were not eligible for parole. Pablo Ortega, Joao Neves and Keith Nunes were each given life sentences for murder as teenagers and were granted parole in April 2022 after the Superior Court ordered their release.
The R.I. Supreme Court has since agreed to review those decisions but refused to halt their release from prison.
Mario belongs in prison and should be left there. The ACLU should pick up the court costs on these asinine lawsuits. BTW, Mario’s law should be used to prevent kids under 22 from voting, since they do more harm harm at the polls than good and pay very little in taxes.