With funding from The Florida Bar Foundation, Gerald Glynn and Ilona Vila of the Barry University School of Law are working to ensure quality representation for juveniles whose life sentences were deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Foundation supports efforts to ensure fair sentencing for juveniles

In his cell at Lake Correctional Institution in Clermont, Fla., Kenneth Young, 25, keeps among his few possessions a worn copy of USA Today dated May 18, 2010, the day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juveniles cannot be sentenced to life without parole for crimes other than murder.

“The newspaper looks like it’s 100 years old, because I done folded it and reopened it and read it so many times,” Young said.

Young keeps poring over the story about the Court’s decision in Graham v. Florida to make sure he didn’t dream it. To a young man who went to prison as a 15-year-old boy, the 1,566 words in that article boil down to one thought: “You might not die in prison after all.”

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Keshawn He is one of nearly 3,000 reasons to make a gift to support Children's Legal Services through the 2010 End-of-Year Children's Legal Services Campaign. Read More »

Children's Legal Services By The Numbers:

2,969- The number of cases closed through Foundation-funded Children's Legal Services projects statewide in 2009.

$2.8 million - The amount of Foundation funding for Children's Legal Services in 2009.

3,403 - The number of Florida lawyers who added their financial support to the Foundation's through the Lawyers' Challenge for Children.


The Florida Bar Foundation Fact

In 2009, The Florida Bar Foundation provided about 34 percent ($31.85 million) of the overall funding ($92.56 million) received by Florida legal aid organizations. About 21 percent ($19.38 million) of legal aid funding in Florida comes from the federally funded Legal Services Corporation, and another 9 percent ($8.56 million) is provided through other federal programs, including Title III. The remaining 36 percent ($32.77 million) comes from statutory county funding, along with discretionary funds from the state, cities and counties, as well as donations and other grant programs.