Prosecutorial and Judicial Responsibility to Consider Children at Sentencing

Too often, sentencing decisions are treated as sterile calculations—months, years, guidelines, ranges. What gets erased in that math are the children.

When prosecutors seek punishment and judges impose sentences without considering dependent children, they are not issuing neutral decisions. They are making affirmative choices that reshape childhoods, destabilize families, and perpetuate generational harm.

With mass incarceration being a significant problem in the United States, it is important that Judges, Prosecutors, and all actors of the system consider the rights of the littlest and most helpless individuals being impacted by their decisions.

This is not hypothetical; it is measurable, documented, and preventable.

The Quaker United Nations Office offers a resource on international standards and guidance protecting the rights of children of incarcerated parents

Stemming from a United Nation’s 2019 Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty, the guide offers insightful and helpful perspectives that Judges should take into account when sentencing parents to incarceration.

Some of the suggestions put forth incorporate best interest assessments to account for the human rights of children, specifically:

• Ensuring that a child will be adequately cared for while an individual is incarcerated
• The effect a parent’s sentence will have on one’s children
• If a parent MUST be incarcerated, provide support for the child/children including counseling and psychological support
• Making sure that children are not punished for alleged or convicted crimes of their parents
• All actors to include law enforcement, prison professionals, the judiciary, and prosecutor are respectful of a child’s rights and their best interests
• Prosecutors consider the potential effect of sanctions they request on the well-being and best interests of children of the accused
• Prevent separation through the use of non-custodial alternatives to incarceration for parents

Judge Kirsten Nielson Hartig's Dementia Diagnosis Exposes Michigan’s Judicial Fitness GapJanuary 10, 2026Rita Williams

Sources Raise Questions About Changes in Online Advocacy Around Temujin KensuJanuary 7, 2026Rita Williams

Michigan Passes Anti-SLAPP Law: HB 4045 Is a Major Win for Free SpeechJanuary 6, 2026Rita Williams