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Juvenile delinquency (young criminals)
Can juveniles be sentenced to life
Life without parole for juveniles examples
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Crimes sentences of life in prison without parole should be given to all people of this country. It is just as unfair to give a softer sentence to a woman than a man or to give a softer sentence to a white man than a black man as it is to give a softer sentence to a 17 year old than a 25 year old. There should be no biases or discrimination when it comes to crime. I believe along with the four justices that “heinous crimes committed by juveniles should always be punished with a sentence to life in prison”.
The notion that juveniles brains aren’t fully developed and that they deserve a longer leash is somewhat true. However, if you think juveniles aren’t capable of understanding the consequences of their actions and therefore deserve a second
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chance, you are completely wrong. The 2016 American documentary “They Call Us Monsters” reveals the true colors of the three juveniles locked up for their crimes.
More specifically the movie, displays the story of one kid, Antonio Hernandez. He is the only one of the kids to be released from jail. However before being released, he shockingly reveals to the camera that he feels no remorse whatsoever for his crime. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to raise any red flags. Antonio is later released to the welcoming of his loving and supporting family. This moment is sort of the bright area of the movie. His mom is interviewed saying that she is so happy that her baby is coming home and that Antonio was about to do big things. However, when it comes to juvenile offenders being released from jail, the inevitable occurs. Antonio immediately returns to his old habits of getting high and disappearing randomly. The audience gets the sense that the juvenile rehabilitation system hasn’t helped Antonio and that Antonio was on the verge of committing another brutal crime. …show more content…
This character represents the underlying anger of all the juveniles in the system. But most importantly, Antonio reveals that juveniles offenders shouldn’t be released early from jail. This idea that juvenile offenders don’t deserve special conduct is common among people who have been around these juveniles. Even respected juvenile supervisor James Hill and guest speaker for our class, admitted how frequently the juveniles he works with, simply aren’t open to change and won’t ever be able to turn things around. The characteristics that make juvenile offenders different than adult offenders are definitely present.
However, there is little difference when it comes to the meaningful characteristics that would soften a sentence. For instance, the Serial Podcast goes in depth with controversial convicted killer Adnan Syed. The narrator Sarah Koenig has long conversations with Adnan regarding his thoughts about what happened and who was involved. Adnan seems like a very personable man but, if he really did kill Hae would you want him to be given a second chance? Most people would throw out Adnan’s personality and immediately turn against him. People would feel sorry for Hae and would want Adnan to rot in his cell. This example, shows how the supporters of ending juvenile life without parole aren’t opening their eyes to the story of these juvenile offenders. The ERWC article “Jennifer Jenkins on Punishment and Teen Killers” sums up the flawed reasoning of people who want juvenile life without parole to end. She confirms the viewpoint of the supporters towards these juveniles “Consistently, they don’t talk about the facts of the crimes, just the poor children in prison”. Jenkins points out that the people who feel bad for these children are fueling their argument behind pure emotion. She says they are acting stubborn for not looking at the story behind each one of these juvenile offenders. If most people would just dig deeper, they would realize that these offenders knew exactly what they
were getting into, yet carried out their actions with poor reasoning. Jenkins concludes her statement with power, by saying that “life sentence still allows a great deal of good living to be done, even from behind bars, far more than these teen killers gave to our loved ones”. This treatment of juvenile offenders is not harsh at all given what the people murdered by these juveniles are given. How is it fair that the killers get to be free but the victims will never get to take a step on earth again? These juvenile offenders don’t deserve extra chances. They should be treated no different than any other human. This treatment should not be looked at as improper but, should be seen as justice for the victims of the crimes and for the people who will never be able to get over the loss of their loved ones. Life in prison without parole is necessary and fundamental for our great country.
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...
Juveniles don’t deserve life sentences without parole for many reasons but one main reason is becase people don’t know a person’s life at home and sometimes living in a broken home can affect their social life. According to the article “Greg Ousley Is Sorry for Killing His Parents”, the author Scott Anderson states that,“The only way to unlock the mysteries of the psyche is to dissect your childhood, especially the formative influence of your parents” (Anderson 56), proving that juveniles are easily influenced to do terrifying crimes and is not their fault because no one was there to guide them.
If someone had previous knowledge of a crime, are they just as guilty for not reporting that a crime was going to happen as the person(s) that actually perpetrated the crime? This question was a major point of discussion and the major driver of the plot in the book Monster by Walter Dean Myers. In this book, 16 year old Steve Harmon is being tried for felony murder for participating in a robbery perpetrated by James King, Bobo Evans, and Osvaldo Cruz that ended in the death a Alguinaldo Nesbitt. Although the jury found Harmon innocent in the end, the readers still learn that Steve knew that a robbery was going to happen. Also, scattered throughout the book were bits of evidence that alluded to Steve’s involvement in the robbery. Therefore,
One of the problems with the law is its principle of removing judicial discretion. This severely hinders a judge's ability to make a punishment fit the crime. While some felons deserve life in prison, it is unfair to create a standard that would force judges to sentence offenders to life imprisonment for relatively minor crimes.
Racial discrimination has been an immense problem in our society for a very long time. The fact that the race of a victim plays a role in his or her sentencing is appalling. Discrimination within our society needs to come to an end. It’s frightening to think that if you are a minority facing a capital punishment case, which you might be found guilty only because of the color of your skin.
Most people don 't look at every aspect of a crime. They don 't think about everyone that was affected, other than the victim. In her article "On Punishment and Teen Killers", Jennifer Jenkins explains how her younger sister was taken from her by a murderer who shot and killed her. In her article she states, "So few who work on the juvenile offender side can truly understand what the victims of their crimes sometimes go through. Some never recover." Jenkins is explaining her personal experience of losing her younger sister to help others understand what the families of the victim have to deal with for the rest of their lives. She brings a point of view that most people have never been in because they 've never experienced what it 's like to have a loved one taken away from you by murder. In her story she also states, "If brain development were the reason, then teens would kill at roughly the same rates all over the world." Many people believe that the supreme court needs to be more lenient on juveniles because their brain is not fully developed as that of an adult, but brain development cannot be used as an excuse because as Jenkins explains, the teens would be killing at the same rate all over the world. Jenkins also brings up a good point about how the US as a whole needs to step up to prevent these crimes from happening. Jenkins states, "We in America have to own to this particular problem, with weapons so easily available to our youth, and the violence-loving culture we raise them. She is trying to bring awareness to society that America is also at fault for these crimes. Furthermore, she also explains why life sentencing is not as cruel as some may feel it is when she says, "… a life sentencing still allows a great deal of good living to be done, even from behind bars, far more than these teen killers gave to our murdered love
Even though juveniles brains’ aren't developed at the age they committed the crime, they should be able to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. However, four justices strongly agree, mandatory sentences reflected the will of America society that heinous crimes committed by juveniles should always be punished. The majority of Supreme Court justices who argued to abolish mandatory life in prison for juveniles. Researchers around the world agree with this statement because juveniles don't have a fully developed brain or have rough homes. Many juveniles have don't first degree misers and second degree murders. I stand against abolishing mandatory life in prison. In my opinion Juveniles, depending on the the crime should be sentenced
For one, unlike Ian he was convicted and found guilty of a non-homicide crime yet still also found himself in a life sentence. For better or for worse, Joe wasn’t confined but “was [instead] repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted,” the trauma from which eventually caused him to develop multiple sclerosis (Stevenson 259). 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, recently 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
...s A. Preciado, but despite these wrong decisions being made by juveniles, they deserve a second chance to better themselves as potential future citizens. Even Gail garinger who was a former juvenile judge believes that they are capable such manner, In her article, “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences” written March 14, 2012 and published by New York Times, it states that “as a former juvenile court judge, I have seen firsthand the enormous capacity of children to change and turn themselves around. The same malleability that makes them vulnerable to peer pressure also makes them promising candidates for rehabilitation”. I believe, and still do, that even though juveniles that have taken a wrong path, regardless of what they 've done, need guidance from us and people who were once juveniles to mentor them and be given a second chance, just as I did a long time ago.
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.
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.
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.
Juvenile do not deserve life in prison, they will not be able to handle it. I agree with the group of judges who believe juveniles to not deserve life sentences. They have a great chance at rehabilitation. It only takes something or someone to help them stay out of troubl
Juveniles are not mature enough or developed psychologically, and, therefore, do not consider the consequences of their actions. In the article, “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” by Thompson,
For instance, juveniles do not deserve life sentences because their brain isn 't fully develop yet and lack awareness of their actions. In the article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” by Paul Thompson, he explains the development of the brain and how at some situation the brain it isn 't ready and it can affect the person. This effect in divergent ways; psychologically and emotionally. On Thompson article introduces the case of Nathaniel Brazill, at age 14, he was charged second degree murder, trial as an adult and sentenced to life in prison without parole. After a serious research, it has shown that as many other juveniles who have committed a crime they are “far from adulthood”. As other experiments have been done, more statistics have find “a massive loss of brain tissues occurs in the teen years”, this supports his idea that brain lack of awareness due to the missing of important tissues. In another article “Adoles...