Kids on Death Row
Even though they are just kids, should they be tried as adults? The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the execution of children as young as sixteen is not cruel and unusual punishment. Out of thirty-eight states with the death penalty, thirteen have set the minimum age for death at eighteen; four states set the minimum at seventeen; nine set the minimum age at sixteen; twelve have no minimum age specified. In 1996, prosecutors in the state of Mississippi sought the death penalty for juveniles as young as thirteen years of age (1998, February 17). In 1999, a Texas legislator announced his plan to lower the state's minimum age to eleven. The youngest person killed since World War II in the United States was George Stinny, a fourteen year-old black boy. George Stinny was so small that when he was being executed his mask fell off.
Some argue that children mature enough to murder are mature enough to be punished for it. The death penalty is usually the last alternative for justice. Miriam Shehane, president of Victims of Crime and Leniency says, "I think when my kids were 15 or 16 they knew better than to kill someone." A victims'-rights movement based in Montgomery, Alabama says, "If someone does adult crime, they are acting as adults, and they have to take responsibility" (1998, May 3). Shehane contends that capital punishment is not only for those with long legacies of criminality but also for anyone, teens included, who commits singularly horrific crimes. Republican Governor Pete Wilson of California has suggested that fourteen year-olds should be eligible for the death penalty. The spokesman for Wilson, Sean Walsh, explained why Wilson was suggesting this. Walsh thought that gangs in California often use underage triggermen because the gangs know that, if the triggermen are caught, they will not be subject to capital punishment. Lowering the minimum age, he argues, would change that practice. In Texas, Pitts is proposing a five point plan where he wants kids as young as 10-years-old to be certified to stand trial as adults. He wants determinant sentencing eliminated when crimes are pre-mediated. The plan allows juveniles to be sentenced to life without parole (1998, May 3).
Currently, seventy-four juveniles offenders are waiting to be executed on America's death rows.
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...
In the article On Punishment and Teen Killers by Jenkins, sadly brings to our attention that kids are sometimes responsible for unimaginable crimes, in 1990 in a suburban Chicago neighborhood a teenager murdered a women, her husband, and her unborn child, as she begged for the life of her unborn child he shot her and later reported to a close friend that it was a “thrill kill”, that he just simply wanted to see what it felt like to shoot someone. A major recent issue being debated is whether or not we have the right to sentence Juveniles who commit heinous crimes to life in adult penitentiaries without parole. I strongly believe and agree with the law that states adolescents who commit these heinous crimes should be tried as adults and sentenced as adults, however I don’t believe they should be sentenced to life without parole. I chose this position because I believe that these young adults in no way should be excused for their actions and need to face the severe consequences of their actions. Although on the other hand I believe change is possible and that prison could be rehabilitating and that parole should be offered.
Over the past 400 years over 360 juveniles have been executed for the particularly heinous crimes they committed. The death penalty in juvenile cases had developed greatly in the past 400 years, starting with Thomas Granger execution in 1642 and progressing to the Roper v. Simmons trail in 2005 where juvenile execution was outlawed in the United States.
America is no stranger for juveniles being tried as adults. The first known case being in 1642; Thomas Granger, 16, who had sex with a mare, cow and some goats was hanged in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts.1 He was America's first documented execution of a child offender and the debut of the juvenile death penalty.1 The youngest girl to be executed was 12-year-old Hannah Ocuish who was hanged for killing a 6-year-old white child in 1786.1 Finally, James Echols, was the last execution in 1964 who was executed for rape two years later at the age of 19.1
The sentencing of underage criminals has remained a logistical and moral issue in the world for a very long time. The issue is brought to our perspective in the documentary Making a Murderer and the audio podcast Serial. When trying to overcome this issue, we ask ourselves, “When should juveniles receive life sentences?” or “Should young inmates be housed with adults?” or “Was the Supreme Court right to make it illegal to sentence a minor to death?”. There are multiple answers to these questions, and it’s necessary to either take a moral or logical approach to the problem.
I think that it is unfair that a minor could be killed for something when they aren’t even allowed to vote. Those younger than 18 are not allowed to vote or be on juries, or enjoy any of the other responsibilities and privileges of adulthood because the government considers their judgment unformed. So why would you execute them if you think their judgment isn’t up to par? To the government their judgment isn’t up to par, so don’t tell minors that they should know right from wrong when the government believes that they can’t think right yet. A minor should know not to murder someone, but maybe their mind just hasn’t quite developed that sense of right or wrong yet.
Heinous crimes are considered brutal and common among adults who commit these crimes, but among children with a young age, it is something that is now being counted for an adult trial and punishable with life sentencing. Although some people agree with this decision being made by judges, It is my foremost belief that juveniles don’t deserve to be given life sentencing without being given a chance at rehabilitation. If this goes on there’s no point in even having a juvenile system if children are not being rehabilitated and just being sent off to prison for the rest of their lives and having no chance getting an education or future. Gail Garinger’s article “ juveniles Don’t deserve Life sentence”, written March 14, 2012 and published by New york Times, mentions that “ Nationwide, 79 adolescents have been sentenced to die in prison-a sentence not imposed on children anywhere else in the world. These children were told that they could never change and that no one cared what became of them. They were denied access to education and rehabilitation programs and left without help or hope”. I myself know what it’s like to be in a situation like that, and i also know that people are capable of changing even children when they are young and still growing.
Supreme Court ruling Graham v. Florida (2010) banned the use of life without parole for juveniles who committed non-homicide crimes, and Roper v. Simmons (2005) abolished the use of the death penalty for juvenile offenders. They both argued that these sentences violated the 8th Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. While these landmark cases made great strides for the rights of minors passing through the criminal justice system, they are just the first steps in creating a juvenile justice system that takes into consideration the vast differences between adolescents and adults. Using sociological (Butler, 2010) and legal (Harvard Law Review, 2010) documents, this essay will explicate why the next such step to be taken is entirely eliminating the use of the life without parole sentence for juveniles, regardless of the nature of the crime being charged.
When a person becomes a parent, their role in life undoubtedly changes. The person must become a teacher, a guide, and a helping hand in the life of the child. Research has shown that there is a distinct connection between how a child is raised and their overall developmental outcome. John Bowlby’s attachment theory emphasizes the importance of the regular and sustained contact between the parent-infant or parent-child relationship (Travis & Waul 2003). Yet, what happens when the only physical contact a child can share with their parent is a hand pressed on the shield of glass that separates the two? What happens when the last memory of their mother or father was from the corner of their own living room as they watched their parent become handcuffed? In 2007, there was an estimate of approximately 1.7 million children of incarcerated parents in the United States (Poehlmann, Dallaire, Loper & Shear 2010). Of those 1.7 million children, 58% of those children are under the age of 10, with the mean age being 8 (Travis & Waul 2003). The children of incarcerated parents are often moved from one family and one school to the next. The child must cope with this issue in home and in school, and may find it especially hard to cope with during school. Schools, however, can be a safe place for these children. This research explored the psychological effects of parent incarceration on the child, the school-based problems that occur as a result, and what educators can do to support children of incarcerated parents.
Is it fair to give juveniles life sentences? On June 25 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who committed murder could not be sentenced to life in prison because it violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority, stated that “Mandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological age and its hallmark features- among them, immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate the risks and consequences. It prevents taking into account the family and home environment that surrounds him and from which he cannot usually extricate himself no matter how brutal or dysfunctional.” Juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison or adult jail until legal age. Due to the facts that many are still young and aren’t over eighteen.
In juvenile court, the judge must decide if the teen gets tried as an adult or minor. If the juvenile gets sent to a juvenile detention center for murder they will live their lives there until they are twenty one, but if tried as an adult they will serve so many years in prison. There is a grey area of law for certain teens that commit serious crimes. In this case of the grey law, each state gets to decide upon the particular state how they person is tried. For most cases pertaining to the juvenile courts are case by case bases. Many believe that it isn’t fair for the teens to be locked up with adults. The U.S. House of Representatives made the Juvenile Justice Act encouraging states to find alternatives to having the teens go through such a process with people much older than themselves (Locked Up…).
Children are told to be innovative, explore life, and that there mistakes will teach them life lessons. While most children major punishments are extracted by their parents and guardians, a small number go beyond a petty crime and violated the law. The New Oxford American Dictionary states that the death penalty is, “the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime.” Capital crimes array from murder to drug trafficking. In the United States the death penalty is mostly administered towards first-degree murder, with non-murder crimes varying by state. “Currently, only 58 nations actively practice the death penalty, with 96 countries having abolished it, the remainder have not used the death penalty for 10 years or only allow for death in exceptional circumstances.” (Death Penalty Information Center, n.d.) How does a child get to the position of committing a murder, do they deserve and understand death?
In the twenty first century there have been many cases of kids committing murder, whether it is the relationships they hold at home or the video games they play, the environment a child is exposed to will affect their developmental process. Children are supposed to be innocent and pure without the desire to kill, yet in the last 50 years official statistics on Listverse.com suggest that over 1,100 kids have been found guilty of murder in England alone. The average age of a child that kills is just about fourteen years old. These kids are usually brought up in an environment that does not teach them right from wrong.
The death penalty is punishment by execution, state-sanctioned and administered by the government in the United States. The death penalty can actually come in several different forms, including lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, firing squad, and hanging. However, the most commonly used in the United States is lethal injection (Death Penalty Information Center, 2016). This form of punishment was actually greatly influenced by Great Britain back in the 17th century, and the first execution of a juvenile offender, Thomas Graunger of Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, occurred in 1642 (Death Penalty Information Center, 2016). The death penalty for juveniles have many reasons that are discussed regarding why the death penalty should not