RI ACLU: After “Mario’s Law” court vindication, namesake released from ACI after 22 years
"Mario and all people like him deserve to have the hope that someday they will have an adult life in society..."
From an ACLU of Rhode Island press release:
Mario Monteiro, the namesake of “Mario’s Law,” the state law designed to give youthful offenders with long prison sentences the opportunity to apply for parole after 20 years, was released from the ACI today after serving more than 22 years in prison for a crime he committed at the age of 17. His release was made possible by a Rhode Island Supreme Court decision earlier this month that rejected the Attorney General’s interpretation of the law that would have barred the availability of early release for him or any other juvenile offenders for at least another decade.
Dee Jensen, Monteiro’s aunt, spent years vigorously lobbying for the legislation that helped free her nephew. She testified how he lost his mother when he was ten, his father when he was eleven, and then was left to be raised by a friend of his father, who exposed him to years of serious physical abuse and neglect and involvement in a gang as a young teen. “I am overjoyed to see this day,” said Jensen. “Mario and all people like him deserve to have the hope that someday they will have an adult life in society. I am grateful to all those who recognized that rehabilitation is possible and that young people who commit serious crimes merit a second chance.”
“Mario’s Law” 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 United States 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. Monteiro is 40 years old and had been incarcerated his entire adult life after being sentenced to two life sentences for a murder he committed as a juvenile. Last year, ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorneys Lynette Labinger, Lisa Holley, and Sonja Deyoe sued the state on behalf of Monteiro, joining two other juvenile offenders represented by the ACLU attorneys – Keith Nunes and Joao Neves – who had all been stymied in being considered for parole, despite positive recommendations from the parole board, due to the state’s distorted interpretation of the statute.
Unlike Monteiro, Neves and Nunes were released on parole in 2022 when the Superior Court ruled in their favor and the Supreme Court did not intervene in their release. Since that time, Nunes has obtained a bachelor’s degree from Roger Williams University and has been admitted on scholarship to a Masters of Divinity program at Boston University to become a pastor. Neves completed a “Building Futures Apprenticeship Program,” has received several vocational certificates, and currently works on bridge repair, with plans to obtain a contractor’s license and open a business.
“Thanks to the General Assembly, the courts, and the parole board, Mario’s release acknowledges the basic fact that juvenile offender characteristics of impulsivity, recklessness, and immaturity should be considered before keeping in prison for life a person sentenced in their youth,” said ACLU attorney Holley. “Our other clients have proven the reality and success of rehabilitation, and I am very pleased that Mario will now be able to do the same.”
Background information on the case can be found here.
I’ve been covering this story for six years. Here are some previous pieces from my time at Uprise RI:
June 2, 2024 - RI Supreme Court orders parole board to consider release of Mario Monteiro in response to ACLU lawsuit
May 17, 2023 - A Second Chance: Judge Rules ‘Mario’s Law’ Applicable to Monteiro, Advocates Hail Victory for Youth Offenders”
February 26, 2023 - ACLU to RI Supreme Court: Mario’s Law should apply to Mario
March 31, 2022 - Judge orders release of unlawfully incarcerated juvenile offenders
March 24, 2022 - The ACLU charges the State with undermining a law designed to reduce the incarceration of juvenile offenders
March 18, 2022 - Governor McKee is preventing the release of paroled men convicted as juveniles because “it’s an election year”
May 24, 2021 - Shivani Nishar: The time is now to pass Mario’s Bill and reform juvenile sentencing in RI
March 4, 2021 - The Juvenile Offender Parole Act would allow a second chance at life
March 6, 2019 - Bill would allow for the possibility of parole for juveniles serving life
March 2, 2019 - Mario Monteiro: Sentenced as a juvenile to life in prison
March 28, 2018 - Bill would disallow juveniles being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole
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