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Consequences of youth crimes
Capital punishment is cruel and
Consequences of youth crimes
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So much can be lost do to a bad decision or being in the wrong place at the wrong time or even out of an impulse. This thought is brought into consideration when I think of juveniles who have committed a crime and are sentenced to life in prison. For that bad decision that these juveniles have done, they are about to waste their whole life’s behind prison bars. I personally agree with the Supreme Court Justices who argue to abolish mandatory life in prison for juveniles who commit murder. Sentencing a juvenile to life in prison does not only violate the Eighth Amendment, that bans cruel and unusual punishments, but it also ruins/kills another human being’s life. Being in prison for such a long time is like throwing away this teen’s life. It is like giving up on someone who could have done great things for this world, but this will never be known because they are not given the chance to do so. Kids are like sponges, they have the capacity of absorbing everything that is around them. If a kid grows with an unstable family and around a bad environment they will only become as bad as the individuals around them. This is because they do not know any better. This factor should be put into thought when a juvenile receives a sentence for a crime, especially if the crime was something as big as murder. …show more content…
But I say that they are wrong when an adult commits a crime they already have the enough maturity in understanding what they are doing and what the consequences are. They know that life cannot be taken easily and without overthinking things. But I cannot say that about a teen. Teens take things as they go, they see everything as being easy and do not think things throw. I believe that everyone deserves a second chance no matter what they have done because everyone has bad days and makes bad
If a family member was murdered, a family member was murdered, age should not dictate if the punishment for homicide will be more lenient or not. If anyone not just juveniles has the capabilities to take someone's life and does so knowing the repercussions, they should be convicted as an adult. In the case of Jennifer Bishop Jenkins who lost her sister, the husband and their unborn child, is a strong advocate of juveniles being sentenced to life without parole. In her article “Jennifer Bishop Jenkins On Punishment and Teen Killers” she shows the world the other side of the spectrum, how it is to be the victim of a juvenile in a changing society where people are fighting against life sentences for juveniles. As she states in the article “There are no words adequate to describe what this kind of traumatic loss does to a victims family. So few who work on the juvenile offender side can truly understand what the victims of their crimes sometimes go through. Some never
Throughout and for many years there has been a lot of controversy on how to trial someone who has committed a crime under the age of 18. A lie will be a lie even if it 's serious or innocent and that 's why just like a crime will always be a crime, no matter what the situation is. The age of a person who has committed murder shouldn 't be an issue or a complication. Many advocate that the juvenile is just a child, but despised that I believe that is no justification or defense for anyone who does a crime. America and the nation need to apprehend that juveniles that are being conducted to life in prison is not just for one small incident or crime, but for several severe crimes according to Jennifer Jenkins, Juvenile Justice Information
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.
Marjie Lundstrom in her article Kids are Kids until they commit crimes says “research suggests that adolescents squeezed through the adult system are more likely to come out as violent career criminals than similar kids handled on the juvenile side”. This means if they do a crime and don’t get punished they’ll come out as violent career criminals then other kids that get punished because the kids that get punished will have learned their lesson that there are consequences for their violent negative behavior. This is true because many juvenile offenders are
Fair sentencing of youth state's “Children sentenced to life in prison without parole are often the most vulnerable members of our society” The Gail Garinger article, “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences” discusses about children deserving a second opportunity. According to Garinger, children should receive a second chance and help so they could be mentally stable. According to Justice Elena Kagan she discusses that Juveniles without parole affects the way he develops throughout his life time. I agree with the majority decision that Juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison and that they should be given a second chance because they deserve to fix their mistakes.
Mandatory minimum sentencing is the practice of requiring a predetermined prison sentence for certain crimes. The most notable mandatory minimums are the ones implemented in the 70’s and 80’s, hoping to combat the rising drug problem. Mandatory minimum sentencing has existed in the United States nearly since its very birth, with the first mandatory minimums being put into place around 1790. Recently, as the marijuana laws of many states have scaled back in severity, the issue of mandatory minimums has caused controversy in the US. There are two distinct sides to the argument surrounding mandatory minimum sentencing. One group believes we have a moral obligation to our country requiring us to do no less than lock up anyone with illegal drugs
There are millions of adults in federal prison, but The United States is the only country in the world that condemns children to die in prison (Pequeneza, 2014). It’s sad to think about children being sentenced to life in prison, and frankly it is a disturbing and a scary fact to face. However, in recent years the U.S Supreme Court has made it illegal to charge juveniles with life sentencing for anything less than murder (Pequeneza, 2014). This new law gives children a second chance at life when they are finally released from prison. Many children are forced to be in a household that is not suitable for a developing child. Children are mistreated, neglected, abused, and other factors. These unfit situations that children are in make them more likely to become violent, and maybe end up in juvenile
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.
Multiple surveys have proven that 65% of the most ridiculous mistakes made by an adult were made in their teenage years. Adolescents are known to make mistakes, but when punished correctly, instead of repeating, they learn. Most people believe the harsher the punishment the less likely a child will act out again, but through research and analysis of the brain this was proven to not be true. When a teenager goes as far as committing a crime, judgement should still be based on the fact that he or she is still a minor. As a juvenile, doing something wrong , no matter the severity, should be resulted in a punishment that requires them to learn from their mistakes. Charging them as an adult does not have the same effect as sending away an adult to do jail time.
According to the law, children ages 7-15 legally do not know what is wrong or what is right to do. Children who do not know what is wrong or right can commit a crime without knowing how bad the consequences can be. Immature children do not know most factors the way regular human beings know and can commit more errors by accident than other human beings will commit on purpose. Immature children should not be sentenced to life because they rarely know the rules of life and unlike most adults; they do not know what is good or bad about it. For example, “juveniles are different from adults in terms of brain development and maturity levels” (Corrington 1). Crimes children or immatures can commit include killing someone in a fight, choking someone out, or running over someone by accident. Arguments can also build in by saying teenagers should get sentenced to life for being immature and doing things immaturely. If a young teenager runs over another teenager or children and kills them, of course the parents are going to want the responsible driver to pay for what they have done. Sometimes jail is not enough and the parents or family members of victims want to kill whoever was responsible for the disgrace that happened. A big percentage of people do not understand that young children do not know what adults are capable of doing if it was
Every child deserves a second chance, don’t they? These opinions could be swayed one way or another, depending on perspective. The kind of actions these children have committed have been present for generations and more to come. Innocent people have been harmed, killed ,and even slaughtered due to the underaged, innocent, and immature children. They have been given life in prison without parole and even the death penalty. Many would consider this a violation of the 8th amendment because of the unusual punishment. There are many others who believe the punishments aren't harsh enough. While I can see that a child doesn't know what it's doing, there is still reason to punish him just like we would for not brushing their
“According to DPIC”, death penalty laws are dated as far back as the 18th century. Death penalties came in the form of being beaten to death, crucifixion, burned alive, drowning and even impalement. America’s death penalty laws was greatly influenced by England. However, the death penalty in the United States is executed by the use of lethal injection which inflicts immediate death. In today’s society you can often find that most are in favor offenders receiving life without parole instead of the death penalty.
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.
Many people claim that the child did not know any better, or that he was brought up with the idea that this behavior is acceptable. Although there is some truth to these allegations, the reality of this social issue is far more complex. Therefore we ask the question, "Should childhood offenders of capital crimes be treated as adults?" To begin with, numerous reasons for why a child acts in the manner he exhibits and why he continues to exert such dangerous and even fatal schemes. Recent research shows that factors ranging from inherited personality traits to chemical imbalances and damages suffered in the womb can increase the odds that a child will become violent (Johnson 234).
Should juveniles be trial as an adult after committing a heinous crime and sentenced to life? As a teenager, this question if far complicated to answer due that I am a teenager yet in my opinion, I believe that the juvenile should not be sentenced to life. I believe that there 's other way to punish them for their crimes. The last execution was in 2006 in California. On June 2012, the supreme court of justice ruled that juveniles cannot be sentenced to life in prison. On July 2014, in California the death penalty was removed. The 8th amendment banned the use of cruel or punishments. The reason why this rule have been imposed or banned was because many believed that they deserve a second chance. There are many reasons why juveniles commit crimes such as murder.