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Comparing adulthood to adolescent
Life sentence for juveniles
Research paper about sentencing options for juvenile crimes
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And, few cases can be granted parole based on the crime committed. We need to set examples as kids are our future. There has to be a difference in the conviction being meted out to kids. Not all murder cases or stolen or rape cases need to be given the same sentence.
In my point of view, minors who do not know what they are doing or are influenced by some one else, law should be little cool on such cases. In crimes like murders and rapes, law should be stringent and action should be taken strictly.
In such cases, I would say that irrespective of the age group, stringent action should be taken and the minor should be reprimanded to judicial custody.
Based on the mental stability of the minor, we can gauge on the parole or non-parole.
Within the last five years, violent offenses by children have increased 68 percent, crimes such as: murder, rape, assault, and robbery. Honestly, with these figures, it is not surprising at all that the Juveniles Courts focus less on the children in danger, and focus more on dangerous children. This in fact is most likely the underlying reasoning behind juveniles being tried as adults by imposing harsher and stiffer sentences. However, these policies fail to recognize the developmental differences between young people and
Many people say that the systems first priority should be to protect the public from the juvenile criminals that are a danger to others. Once the juveniles enter the system there is however, arguments on what should be done with them. Especially for those deemed too dangerous to be released back to their parents. Some want them locked away for as long as possible without rehabilitation, thinking that it will halt their criminal actions. One way to do this they argue would be to send them into an adult court. This has been a large way to reform the juvenile system, by lowering the age limits. I believe in certain cases this is the best method for unforgiving juveniles convicted of murder, as in the case of Ronald Duncan, who got away with a much lesser sentence due to his age. However another juvenile, Geri Vance, was old enough to be sent into the adult court, which caused him t...
Since 776 BCE, the Olympics have been a way for people of different cultures to come together and compete in friendly competition. In 1892 the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, although it had been over a thousand years since the last game it still had brought together an assortment of different religions and ethnic groups together. Many factors shaping the Olympic Games reflect the changes that have taken place in our world since the last game in 393 CE in Greece such changes include woman’s suffrage, global economy, world wars, and proving competency.
Unfortunately, these two cases are not uncommon in the justice world. As a matter of fact, “by 2010, Florida had sentenced more than a hundred children to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide offenses,” (Stevenson 153). One of the primary reasons for this originated in the idea that harsher punishments will act as a deterrent for kids who want to break the law. However, recent studies have suggested that because the prefrontal lobe of the brain is still in development until the age of twenty, children don’t have the mental capacity to make the best decisions, especially under stress. Additionally, children normally wouldn’t have access to weapons or drugs, which allows the argument that adults should be held responsible for making such objects available to them in the first place (Reaves).
Knox, A. (2007). Blakely and Blended Sentencing: A Constitutional Challenge to Sentencing Child “Criminals”. The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
This quote by Edward Humes sums it up the best, “The fundamental question Juvenile Court was designed to ask - What's the best way to deal with this individual kid? - is often lost in the process, replaced by a point system that opens the door, or locks it, depending on the qualities of the crime, not the child.” (No Matter How Loud I shout, 1996, p. 325). The courts need to focus on what is best for the child and finding punishment that fits the child not the crime.
First off sentencing juveniles without parole should not be allowed to happen because the juveniles brain has not yet matured enough and they don’t think before they act. In the article “Juveniles don’t deserve life sentences” by Gail Garinger he asserts “young people are biologically different from adults. Brain imagining studies reveal that regions of
Parole and probation programs have been designed as alternatives to the confinement of a prison cell. The programs have been created for the portion of offenders who do not pose a threat to public safety. In the year 2008, the average daily cost for supervision of a probationer or parolee was about $4. The average daily cost to house an inmate was about $80. Obviously, if the individual was not a risk to the community they should be placed in these programs rather than be put in prison and suck taxpayers dry. If an offender is placed on parole or probation there are two ways they can end up in prison; committing a new crime or breaching conditions of their probation. Facts prove that life in prison without parole is swift, strict, and specific punishment. Those condemned to life have been sentenced to expire in prison. Between three different states figures varied from $18,000 to $26,000. The death penalty and life in prison are way more expensive than placing offenders who are not hazards to society in programs like parole and probation.
Juveniles are more than just kids. They are capable of doing anything an adult is capable of doing. One has probably heard the saying, “If you want to be treated like an adult, then act like an adult.” If they’re going to do crimes that “only” adults are capable of doing, then they should treated like an adult and be tried and sentenced like one. Imagine being close to a murder victim, wouldn’t you want them to feel hell? “How would you feel if you never got to see your child alive again while their killer served only a short sentence before being released from jail?” (hchs1259). This quote hits hard. One can only imagine being in the position of a parent whose child was murdered.
Although a juvenile has committed an adult crime which is punishable according to state or federal law, and must accept their role in the crime, it is not advantageous that they be sentenced to adult prison. This considers among other factors, safety in relation to mental, physical and emotional differences between a child and adult.
In today’s society there is a lot of crime going on that involves minors and the first thing that some people do is blame parents for the misbehavior. What if the minor lives in the home with an alcoholic mom, and a drug addict father, and the minor feels as though he/she is in the world alone. The definition of a minor is “an infant or person who is under the age of legal competence”. (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/minor) The minor starts hanging with the wrong crowd to feel wanted and decides to rob a bank, he goes to jail, and is sentenced to prison. Now there are clearly things that contributed to the way the minor committed this crime but it does not make it okay either. He was not getting any attention at home so he
As minors commit violent crimes without being held accountable, they can grow up to be real criminals and they can be very dangerous. Without a solid foundation of what is right and wrong, these minors will grow up believing that their actions are the norm. For this reason, minors need to be held accountable. They need to be taught that they cannot get away with their crimes. In 2007, courts with juvenile jurisdiction handled an estimated 1.7 million delinquency cases. Delinquency cases include vandalism, shoplifting, robbery, and murder. These are just some of the crimes minors can commit. This was up by forty-four percent from 1985. If a minor grows up believing that crime is acceptable, they will repeat the pattern. Without interrupting the pattern and making them accountable, these minors will always have a twisted sense of right and wrong. A sense of what is right and wrong is important and can be learned at any age. Minors learn very young, what...
“Today we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world,” (Stevenson). The prison population in the U.S. has grown extremely fast over the past three decades. With almost “six million people on probation or parole,” it is clear that there is a problem with our prison system (Stevenson). I believe the prison system in the United States is outdated and unjust because of unfair sentencing, racial discrimination, and the privation of the prison system.
Today?s court system is left with many difficult decisions. One of the most controversial being whether to try juveniles as adults or not. With the number of children in adult prisons and jails rising rapidly, questions are being asked as to why children have been committing such heinous crimes and how will they be stopped. The fact of the matter is that it is not always the children's fault for their poor choices and actions; they are merely a victim of their environment or their parents. Another question asked is how young is too young. Children who are too young to see an R rated film unaccompanied are being sent to adult prisons. The only boundaries that seem to matter when it comes to being an adult are laws that restrain kids from things such as alcohol, pornography, and other materials seen as unethical. Children that are sent to adult prison are going to be subjected to even more unprincipled ideas and scenes. When children can be sent to jail for something as minor as a smash and grab burglary, the judicial system has errors. The laws that send juveniles to adult prisons are inhumane, immoral, and unjust. Kids are often incompetent, which leads to unfair trials. Adult prisons are also very dangerous for minors, and in many cases this leads to more juvenile crimes.
The United States has been affected by a number of crimes committed by juveniles. The juvenile crime rate has been increasing in recent years. Everyday more juveniles commit crimes for various reasons. They act as adults when they are not officially adults. There is a discussion about how juveniles should be punished if they commit heinous crimes. While many argue that juveniles who commit serious crimes, such as murder, should be treated as adults, the fact is, juveniles under the age of eighteen, are not adults, and should not be treated as such.