Whether a convicted felon gets the opportunity to try again can depend on where they made their first mistake.
A former Death Row inmate sued the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles in March 2025 for the right to be given a second lease on life, with arguments being heard on December 10 in Whitfield County, Georgia, as the state requests dismissal of the suit. Janice Buttrum has spent over 40 years as part of Georgia’s criminal justice system, and her questioning of the state’s parole process has shone a spotlight on jurisdictions that give juvenile offenders life sentences. While the possibility of parole may exist in these states, actual instances of it being granted are rare.
Does a grave mistake made as a teenager mean spending an entire life in prison, or should the parole system offer a chance at meaningful opportunities for those who show reform? A U.S. Supreme Court ruling supports the latter, but Georgia, which is one of only three states that doesn’t allow hearings for potential parolees, appears disinclined to agree.
So, About Those Mitigating Factors
When a minor commits a crime, the primary purpose of the youth justice system is to rehabilitate rather than impose punitive measures. Children don’t possess many of the thought processes and impulse controls that adults do, and will “age out” of criminal activity if given the opportunity. However, every state has provisions in place to charge minors as adults for serious and violent crimes such as armed robbery, rape, or murder. In addition, 28 states and the District of Columbia have “automatic charging,” which dictates that youths must be tried as adults for certain offenses. This can lead to those under 18 years of age facing a sentencing phase that includes life without parole or the death penalty.
If anything can change the way the state of Georgia treats parole requests from those serving life sentences stemming from juvenile justice, it might well be Buttrum’s case. Married at the age of 15 to a 26-year-old, Buttrum suffered beatings and sexual abuse at her husband’s hands. In 1980, when she was 17, Buttrum was convicted of participating in a murder in north Georgia with her husband and received a sentence of death. After having her punishment commuted to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole in 2017, Buttrum has been up for early release five times. In each instance, she’s been rejected for “not enough time served.”
Now 62, Buttrum has spent her time in Georgia prisons doing everything possible to convince board members that she’s grown beyond the young person perhaps coerced into a reprehensible act at a crime scene by her abuser. With hours of job training through the Georgia Department of Corrections, college credits earned, and behavior good enough to earn a spot in the Honor Dorm of Pulaski State Prison, she argues it's time to give her a second chance. With the Georgia Parole Board not sharing her opinion, Buttrum opted for a federal lawsuit to try to prove her point.
1% Is Something, but Not Much
Buttrum’s claim that she’s not the same person she was as a young woman is backed by the Supreme Court’s decision in 2016’s Montgomery v. Louisiana, which ruled that life sentences given to juveniles were a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishments. Her suit also claims that the Georgia Parole Board, which does not conduct hearings for parole applicants, is violating her right to due process under the Fourth Amendment.
To counter Buttrum’s claims of constitutional rights violations, the board members point to Howard v. Coonrod, a ruling made by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on a case similar to Buttrum’s. The opinion stated that since about 1% of Florida juveniles who received life sentences were later released, the state’s parole program wasn’t in violation under Montgomery. It’s yet to be determined if the case will be heard before an en banc panel.
Another factor that may be further complicating Buttrum’s quest for release is the very structure of the Georgia Parole Board. The five members who make up the board are appointed to seven-year terms by Georgia’s governor, and every violent felon released, regardless of how long they’ve been incarcerated, is fodder for politically-motivated attacks for being “soft on crime.”
In addition to seeking a declaratory judgment confirming that Georgia’s laws provide no guidelines or requirements that the parole board must adhere to when considering youthful offenders, Buttrum is also requesting a permanent injunction to establish such rules and enjoin “perfunctory denials” for her and others in a similar situation. It’s now up to the judge to determine if Buttrum’s case can continue.
Related Resources
- Sentencing (FindLaw’s Criminal Procedure)
- Prisoners’ Rights (FindLaw’s Civil Rights Law)
- The Juvenile Justice System (FindLaw’s Criminal Law)
