The latest news that the oldest juvenile offender in the United States has been released from prison after serving 68 years in prison Joseph Ligon is a lamentable comparison between the past and the present

Joseph Ligon, 83, has just left the Pennsylvania State Prison, where he spent 68 years, making him the oldest and longest-serving "juvenile offender" in the history of U.S. prison administration. Some worry about whether he will maladapt for modern civilization.

In 1953, when Ligon was 15 years old, he and four other teenagers in their 10s also fought in Philadelphia, including armed wounding and robbery, resulting in 2 deaths and 6 injuries, CNN reported.

Ligong and the others were arrested almost on the spot, in his own account, "chased by the police on the street." ”

After his arrest, Li gong also confessed to committing the crime, at least stabbing one of the 8 victims on the day.

However, he was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Ligon's lawyer, Bradley Bridge, said his client had indeed injured someone, but had not killed anyone and had been convicted of homicide, which was problematic.

Joseph Ligon's comparison of photos from the past and the present is breathtaking.

It's no good to talk too much now. Bridge said: "Children who committed these crimes back in 1953 are no longer there. He is 83 years old, has long been through growth, change, and is no longer a threat. He has paid the price he deserves for the folly of his youth. Now, it is appropriate to let him spend the last years of his life in a free body. ”

Ligon said, "I was no longer a child. I am not only an adult, but an old man, and I am aging every day. ”

In fact, if Ligong had chosen parole, he could have been released from prison a few years earlier. In 2016, the court ruled that another juvenile parole jurisprudence precedent could be applied to Ligong's case, and the Supreme Court of Justice recognized Ligong's eligibility to apply for parole, but Ligong himself refused.

Ligun argues that parole has many troublesome conditions, and that the rest of his life needs to be supervised by parole officers, and that such conditions are not the full freedom he wants.

So Bridge's lawyer took a different approach, he proposed a new argument, saying that "in the Ligong case, the sentence of juvenile offenders to compulsory life imprisonment is unconstitutional", and this appeal was rejected at the Penn Intermediate Appeals Court hearing, but Bridge was not discouraged, he went to federal court, was accepted and won in November 2020, and finally in 2021, according to his appeal, Ligong was freed.

Now that Li Gong has been released from prison and has calculated to re-enter the society, he said that he will try to make some contributions to the society for the rest of his life. In addition, Li Gong was asked by reporters, "How do you feel about the long-lost world?" Ligon said, "Very beautiful, very beautiful. ”