Young offenders in Illinois still serving life sentences | News

Cleodious “J.R.” Schoffner Jr. sits in a customer’s room at Lawrence Correctional Middle, a small, cinderblock field with a guard posted exterior the heavy metallic door. His lanky, 6-foot body is swallowed by saggy jail blues, and a pale lotus flower tattoo – inked by a fellow inmate – peeks from his shirt. Schoffner entered into custody in 1997 on the age of 20. Now 48, Schoffner has spent 28 years – greater than half his life – behind bars. And except the legislation adjustments, he’ll possible die right here.

“They did not must do what they did to me – put me in jail for the remainder of my life and simply throw me away like that,” he mentioned in a December interview.

The Illinois Division of Corrections lists Schoffner as serving life sentences for 2 homicide convictions. The reality is extra difficult. In 1998, within the tiny southern Illinois city of Tamms, Schoffner was convicted as an confederate to a theft that left two useless and one other severely injured. Although Schoffner has maintained that he had no thought his cousin Glen would rob the shop – not to mention kill anybody – the state constructed its case on the idea that he helped plan and perform the crime. A jury agreed.

It was undisputed that Schoffner did not bodily kill anybody. He had no weapon, and Glen Schoffner confessed to the murders. But each have been convicted of two counts of first-degree homicide – J.R. Schoffner beneath the state’s broad “accountability idea” that holds accomplices equivalent to lookouts and getaway drivers to the identical requirements because the gunman if a loss of life happens in the midst of sure crimes, together with armed theft.

For almost three many years, Schoffner has fought for a second probability. Lawmakers now agree that younger offenders deserve one. With the passage of laws in 2019 and 2023, Illinois banned life sentences with out the potential for parole for many youthful offenders beneath 21 on the age of their offenses. However these legal guidelines aren’t retroactive, and Schoffner and dozens like him sentenced as younger adults over earlier many years weren’t included.

At sentencing, Choose Stephen Spomer acknowledged the gravity of the crime however lamented Schoffner’s sentence. “To match this defendant’s culpability with that of Glen Schoffner’s culpability is a tragedy in my thoughts,” Spomer mentioned, in line with courtroom transcripts reviewed by the Saluki Native Reporting Lab, WSIU and Capitol Information Illinois.

However the choose’s arms have been tied by many years of tough-on-crime legal guidelines that had been sweeping the nation. Illinois, on the forefront of that motion, had enacted notably harsh penalties towards accomplices, abolished parole and established strict sentencing pointers by the point Schoffner stood trial. In brief, state legislation mandated Schoffner serve a life sentence.

For Schoffner, it felt like a loss of life sentence.

“It wasn’t till they sentenced me, and so they mentioned ‘a life with out the potential for parole’ – that is once they broke me,” he mentioned, his voice quivering. “That is once they simply broke me. And I simply laid my head on the desk, and I keep in mind my dad developing there and telling me, ‘Raise your head up. You realize we’re gonna hold combating.'”

A tragedy in a sleepy city

In 1997, he was dwelling in rural Pulaski, working odd jobs at a lumber yard and for his dad’s landscaping enterprise

On April 10, his cousin, Glen Schoffner, pulled up and requested him to go for a trip. J.R. just lately instructed reporters that he had instantly felt one thing was off – Glen was driving erratically and appeared drunk. They argued, and J.R. requested to be dropped off, however as an alternative, they continued to the D&M Fast Cease in Tamms, a retailer catering to guards from the brand new supermax jail subsequent door.

Inside, Glen pulled a gun and shot the shop proprietor at shut vary. He then turned the gun on two prospects – he executed one within the rest room and wounded one other, Norma Johnson, with a shot within the leg and stuffed her within the trunk of a automotive.

J.R. says he was terrified and had no selection however to conform, insisting he did not know concerning the theft and that he performed no function within the violence. However Johnson, the surviving sufferer, testified that whereas she could not see her attackers always, she believed J.R. participated in her beating whereas Glen was in one other a part of the shop, courtroom data present.

With Johnson nonetheless within the trunk, Glen sped off. J.R. instructed reporters that he grabbed the steering wheel to make the automotive crash and save Johnson’s life. After the wreck, they fled on foot. A pal picked them up, and at his home, Glen modified garments. That pal testified that he additionally gave J.R. a change of garments, and police later mentioned J.R. was arrested carrying an outfit that matched that description.

J.R. mentioned he ran to his father’s home, and his father known as the police to report what occurred. They have been shocked when J.R. was arrested and charged with homicide. Glen was caught the subsequent day after a high-speed chase that resulted in a crash with a deputy.

A tricky-on-crime period

J.R. Schoffner opted to go to trial – a dangerous choice.

Illinois abolished parole in 1978, turning into one of many first states to take action. As an alternative, lawmakers launched determinate sentencing, guaranteeing inmates served a set portion of their phrases. Throughout this tough-on-crime period, the state additionally mandated life with out parole or the loss of life penalty for people convicted of a number of first-degree murders. Sentencing legal guidelines continued to develop even harsher. By the point Schoffner stood trial in 1998, truth-in-sentencing legal guidelines – bolstered by federal incentives beneath the Clinton administration – had additional restricted early launch and prolonged jail phrases.

Because of this, prisons swelled all through the Eighties and Nineties, disproportionately incarcerating younger Black males like Schoffner. Overcrowding led to violence, poor medical care and expensive lawsuits. By 2013, Illinois’ jail inhabitants peaked at almost 50,000, straining taxpayer assets and pulling funding from colleges and social companies.

Latest bipartisan efforts have tried to reverse a few of these insurance policies, and the jail inhabitants now sits at about 30,000, although the quantity stays increased than it was within the early Eighties. Black inmates nonetheless make up a disproportionate share. Greater than half of the state’s inmates are Black, whereas Black individuals make up lower than 15% of the state’s inhabitants.

In the present day, Illinois stays considered one of 17 states with out discretionary parole, which permits a parole board to grant a conditional launch earlier than the tip of a sentence. Solely two teams can search it: these sentenced earlier than parole was abolished in 1978 and youthful offenders sentenced after 2019.

Tamara Kang, an assistant professor of psychology at Southern Illinois College in Carbondale, says younger offenders needs to be handled in a different way than adults within the justice system.

“Their planning, impulse management, and all of that’s nonetheless in improvement till the age of 20,” Kang mentioned. “The vast majority of individuals are adolescent-limited offenders, that means they are going to age out of crime.”

Youth sentencing reform

A sequence of U.S. and Illinois Supreme Court docket rulings have reshaped juvenile justice over the past 20 years. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court docket banned juvenile loss of life sentences. In 2012, it dominated that life with out parole for juveniles required a case-by-case evaluate contemplating the kid’s historical past and potential for rehabilitation. The Illinois Supreme Court docket later determined that ruling applies retroactively, and the U.S. Supreme Court docket affirmed it in 2016.

Illinois is considered one of 28 states that has banned juvenile life sentences with out the potential for parole. In simply over half of those states, the legislation applies retroactively. Illinois is just not considered one of them.

Sen. Rachel Ventura, a Democrat from Joliet, launched a invoice within the earlier legislative session that might have made the ban on life with out parole retroactive, however it failed. Republican Sen. Seth Lewis, of Bartlett, cosponsored the measure. Although he declined an interview, a spokesperson mentioned he “nonetheless agrees with the idea” however believes the invoice’s language wants revisions. The spokesperson didn’t specify what adjustments he had in thoughts.

Not everybody helps increasing these reforms. Some lawmakers and crime sufferer advocates fear about who is likely to be launched and the potential danger to society. Additionally they specific issues about forcing survivors to relive traumatic occasions. However Ventura says the invoice merely provides individuals an opportunity to petition for launch. Even when courts have ordered new sentencing hearings for juveniles, not the entire defendants have obtained diminished sentences. Some stay incarcerated.

“The reality of it’s, petitioning the board is just not the identical factor as being launched by the board. So, I believe we have now to maintain that in thoughts,” Ventura mentioned.

Lindsey Hammond, coverage director for Restore Justice, which advocates for felony justice reform, mentioned she’s hopeful the bipartisan effort will get one other probability this legislative session. In 2023, her group estimated that about 80 individuals would change into eligible for parole over a decade. The invoice that failed would have allowed individuals serving life sentences to petition for parole after serving 40 years. A brand new measure, Home Invoice 3332, would enable people convicted of homicide beneath the age of 21 to petition for parole after serving 20 or 30 years, relying on the circumstances of their case.

“Everybody deserves the chance to be taught from their errors,” Hammond mentioned. “That is in the end about redemption, and redemption is just not a partisan challenge. It’s one thing that individuals from each side of the aisle imagine in. Grace and mercy – we develop and alter as we become older, and none of us are the individuals we have been once we have been youthful.”

Marsha Levick, chief authorized officer of the Juvenile Legislation Middle, a nationwide nonprofit that advocates for youth rights within the justice system, mentioned states ought to elevate the age threshold for juvenile offenders – giving younger individuals extra consideration earlier than they’re handled as adults, and make these adjustments retroactively.

However Levick mentioned one space calls for speedy consideration: younger individuals convicted beneath felony homicide or confederate legal responsibility doctrines, like Schoffner.

“We’re one of many solely nations on the planet that also convicts individuals beneath a felony homicide or confederate legal responsibility doctrine,” she mentioned. “However sure, we do it, and just about each state does it. It’s reviled by the felony protection bar for each younger individuals and adults. It is only a ridiculous method of imposing legal responsibility that holds them accountable in the identical method that you’d maintain the particular person accountable who was instantly concerned within the killing.”

Regardless of widespread criticism, Levick mentioned the U.S. stays dedicated to the apply. “As a rustic, it has been very onerous to eliminate.”

Pure life

Schoffner maintains his innocence and has spent the previous 28 years behind bars learning the legislation, submitting appeals and serving to others battle their instances. He earned a two-year diploma in paralegal research and works within the jail legislation library. There, he estimates he has helped not less than 15 inmates win their launch.

“If J.R. was not proper there with me at that cut-off date, I might nonetheless be in jail till 2027, as a result of that was my out date,” mentioned Justin Cavette, a former inmate serving time for gun crimes who Schoffner assisted.

The legislation library has change into each an outlet and a lifeline. It additionally helps him maintain onto hope. If he ever secures his freedom, he plans to proceed serving to others navigate the authorized system as a paralegal.

The lotus flower tattoo on his chest has come to represent his time in jail.

“A lotus flower comes up each morning from the murky water, and it leaves no mud stains. After which within the night, it goes again into the murky water. And I type of liken that to myself,” Schoffner mentioned. “As a result of each morning I get up and I take a look at these partitions and take a look at every little thing that I am confronted with, it is like being in that murky water. After which once I go into my ingredient, being in that legislation library and having the ability to assist different individuals and assist myself on the identical time, then it is like that mud is wiped off. After which I gotta return into that mud within the night time.”

Schoffner’s appeals and clemency petition to the governor – all unsuccessful to this point – argue that his trial was essentially flawed. He claims in courtroom filings and clemency petitions that jurors fell asleep throughout testimony, that his pure life sentence violates the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois structure, that his legal professional failed to supply an satisfactory protection and that the courtroom suppressed witness testimony that might show his innocence. As a part of a clemency petition, the pal recanted his prior testimony that he gave Schoffner a change of garments. Glen, his cousin, additionally admitted to falsely implicating Schoffner beneath police stress; in a sworn affidavit, he claimed he testified towards J.R. as a result of police had threatened him with the loss of life penalty if he did not.

All of the appeals have been unsuccessful.

Norma Johnson, the one survivor of the 1997 theft, gave damning testimony at trial, telling jurors that Schoffner helped Glen with the theft and beat her within the retailer. She died in 2010. Her daughter, Kim Noble, would signal an affidavit in 2021 stating that her mom had spent years privately admitting her testimony was false – that she had been coerced into securing a conviction.

“As Glen went again to beat and stab my mom, Cleodious [J.R.] saved telling Glen to cease attacking her and made a number of makes an attempt to cease Glen. She defined to the state that if it had not been for fixed pleas from Cleodious telling Glen to ‘cease,’ Glen would have killed her within the retailer,” Noble wrote within the affidavit.

In 2020, Schoffner’s legal professional delivered what appeared like excellent news: He believed Schoffner’s launch was imminent. The optimism stemmed from a case involving Antonio Home, who was sentenced to life with out parole at age 19 for his function as an confederate. A panel of the Chicago-based First District Appellate Court docket had dominated that Home’s obligatory life sentence “shocks the ethical sense of the group,” elevating the chance that comparable instances – together with Schoffner’s – might be reconsidered.

Schoffner’s mom, Dorothy, 68, ready for his homecoming. Christmas was at all times his favourite vacation, so she embellished. She strung plastic holly throughout the mantel, positioned two small evergreens on both aspect of the fireplace, and arrange a full-sized tree by the entrance door – the very first thing he would see when he walked in.

In 2021, the Illinois Supreme Court docket overturned elements of the appellate courtroom’s ruling and despatched  Home’s case to the trial courtroom, discovering that the decrease courtroom had improperly dominated on his sentencing problem with out totally creating an evidentiary file of how his age associated to his crime. Home has since been launched.

Schoffner argued that the upper courts’ choices ought to have set a precedent for his case. The choose had beforehand famous that Schoffner’s case was on level with Home’s and had delayed ruling on considered one of his appeals till the Home choice was finalized. Nonetheless, after that ruling, the choose in the end denied Schoffner’s petition on a technicality, citing an premature submitting.

Greater than 4 years later, the decorations stay. Dorothy refuses to take them down. Sometime, she says, her son will come dwelling. She might be prepared.

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Springfield rally for J.R. Schoffner

A bunch of members of the family and shut buddies who name themselves Justice for J.R. Advocates are planning a rally in entrance of the Statehouse later this month to name consideration to wrongful incarceration, sentencing reform and the necessity for clemency in Illinois.

“April is Nationwide Second Likelihood Month, a time devoted to elevating consciousness about justice reform and providing pathways for rehabilitation and redemption. This rally will convey collectively authorized advocates, group leaders and anxious residents to demand clemency for J.R. and push for legislative reforms that supply hope to these unjustly incarcerated,” mentioned Donald Shaw, a detailed pal of Cleodious “J.R.” Schoffner Jr. and one of many organizers.

“Regardless of compelling proof of jury tampering, prosecutorial misconduct and witness coercion, he stays incarcerated,” she mentioned. “His case exemplifies the failures of our justice system and the pressing want for change.”

Justice for J.R. Rally
Monday, April 28, 9 a.m.
Abraham Lincoln statue
(Second Avenue and Capitol Avenue)

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Middle.

Ethan Holder, a latest Southern Illinois College graduate, reported this story for WSIU and the Saluki Native Reporting Lab. Julia Rendleman and Molly Parker reported for the Saluki Lab and Capitol Information Illinois. The Lab’s reporting work in Alexander County is financially supported by the Pulitzer Middle on Disaster Reporting.