A new report by the American Civil Liberties Union examines America’s juvenile parole system, arguing strongly and convincingly that it’s failing. The U.S. Supreme Court has over the last decade prohibited some of the harshest penalties for children. But, the report notes, “thousands of young people are still growing up and dying in prison under long sentences with no real hope of release.”

About 8,000 people in 2013 served parole-eligible life sentences for offenses committed as juveniles. And in many states, parole boards have ultimate say in whether people sentenced decades ago as youths are released.