Expanding “Second Look” Makes Sense

By Tinsae Gebriel

Last week, amid social media mobilization efforts to save Brandon Bernard from execution, someone asked a question that struck me: How many of us are the same today as when we were 18 (Brandon’s age when he was arrested)? Just a day before this question was raised, I was talking to a friend from college about undergrad and some of the things we did — things that now seem like bad ideas. We kept asking each other, “What were we thinking?” And I imagine five, ten, or fifteen years in the future, we’ll ask the same questions about our actions today.

Why can’t our legal system allow for the same kind of reassessment? People change and mature and should have an opportunity to go before a judge to reevaluate if the punishment they received ten or fifteen years ago is still appropriate today.

This week, Washington, D.C., paved the way for reviewing and correcting excessively lengthy sentences and restoring mercy into the legal system. The D.C. Council expanded its second look sentencing law, which currently applies to people under 18. The new law would allow people who committed an offense before their 25th birthday the opportunity to petition the court for a reduced sentence after they’ve served 15 years. Release is not guaranteed, but the new law allows system actors to recognize people’s capacity to change and their readiness to come home and contribute to their families and communities.

There is power in a second chance. The more than 50 individuals who were given a second look under D.C.’s existing law have shown us that people can come home early from prison and be incredible mentors, advocates, and thriving members of their community.

In my time working at FAMM, I’ve met many people who were technically not given a death sentence, but were fated to die in prison because their sentences were so long, but who were given a second chance. They are proof of the power of redemption. Some are traveling across the country meeting with lawmakers and advocating reforms to free people from unjust sentences. Some are mentors in their community, using their second chance to steer young people away from a path they regrettably took. Some are living ordinary lives like the rest of us, at home with their loved ones. For many people who are incarcerated, especially Black and Brown people who were failed and neglected by institutions, second looks can be first chances, too.

Second look sentencing laws should be broadly used, across the system, and not just for those who made life-altering mistakes when they were teens or emerging adults. Second chances, denied to so many, can help right the myriad wrongs in our sprawling system. D.C., in expanding their second look law to those under 25, is moving in the right direction. It’s time to think about how everyone deserves a second look, and how such a mechanism can be an integral, reformative part of criminal justice.

Tinsae Gebriel is FAMM’s Deputy Director of Policy.