On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a non-partisanorganization with more than half million activists and members and fiftythreeaffiliates nationwide, we write to express our strong support for H.R.2289, the Juvenile Justice Accountability and Improvement Act of 2009,which would restore discretion to judges and juries by denying funding tostates that refuse to offer a parole option to juvenile offenders and allowstates to improve the quality of legal representation for youths facingpotential life sentences.