There has always been an issue with Juveniles being treated as if they were adults. Many believe that Juveniles that commit crimes such as rape, murder, or extreme violence, should be given a sentence of life in prison. It's been an issue since the start of when Juveniles have been given life without parole and has continued until this day. These kids have to suffer their first years in prison living without parole. I believe that some teens do deserve life without parole due their certain age point, childhood issues, and serious crime they have committed. At a certain age point, there is always that time where these kids deserve a chance of living their lives free instead of being in a cell room for the rest of their lives. In the article, “Juveniles Don't Deserve Life Sentences”, by Gail Garinger, says teens “meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation”. Garinger explains how these juveniles deserve to be released on how they show their maturity and how they recover back to a mature level. Paul …show more content…
The article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains”, by Paul Thompson, states “While research on brain-tissue loss can help us to understand teens better, it cannot be used to excuse their violent or homicidal behavior”. Thompson writes how even though teens cannot be understandable, they have a certain behavior that was caused by violent or harmful issues they've had at their young childhood. Another example would be in the article “Juveniles Don't Deserve Life Sentences”, by Gail Garinger, says “These children were told that they could never change and that no one cared what became of them”. This shows how these kids can have negative feelings about what they are told at a young age, leading to crimes. Every teen that has committed a crime has had a certain issue or negative way of growing
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.
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.
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.
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...
Here has been a whole lot of teens being tried as adults but there are a few cases where the crime was so horrific that they were give a life or multiple life sentences. Youngsters are seen by society as
Jasmine Richardson, a 13 year old girl, encouraged by her boyfriend murdered her whole family. She killed her 8 year old brother and her boyfriend killed both of her parents, all because her family wouldn't let her be with her boyfriend, sad right? She only got 10 years of prison and her boyfriend got a life sentence. Once she got let out, there was nothing on her record and she was just freed. Jasmine’s story is just like many others who have committed crimes. People different ages, doing the same crime aren't getting the same consequences. Juveniles should be treated as adults because it decreases crime rates and justifies their actions.
What do you think about a 16 - 17 year old in jail? On June 25, 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that Juveniles who committed murder could not be sentenced to life in prison because it violated the Eighth Amendment to ban on cruel and unusual punishment. However four justices strongly disagreed arguing that mandatory sentences rejected the will of American society that heinous crimes committed by juveniles should always be sentenced with a lifetime in prison. However from my point of view juveniles should not be sentenced to life time in jail.
The question in which juveniles deserve life in prison was answered on June 25, 2012 when the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles will not get life in prison because it breaks the eighth amendment of cruel and unusual punishment. To paraphrase, Justice Elena Kagan, who is writing for the majority, states that a mandatory life sentence without parole throws out the possibility of considering the effect of factors such as living situation and their social lives have on their behavior. However, four justices disagree with the rule, one of which is Justice Alito who states, “Even a 17 ½-year- old who sets off a bomb in a crowded mall or guns down a dozen students and teachers is a ‘child’
“Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.”- Issac Asimov. Most people are cautious that the brains of teenagers are not fully developed yet, that is why juveniles are careless about the consequences of their crime. It is also why adolescents should be treated and tried differently than adults in the justice system. A decision was made in 2005; the Supreme Court has held juveniles under 18 who commits crimes cannot be sentenced to death or to life without parole. Judges feel that they are less culpable and are more likely to feel remorse and rehabilitate themselves. The Supreme Court has taken action to prevent juveniles from being
According to the 2012 Supreme Court, Juveniles who committed crimes shouldn’t deserve life sentences due to the fact that it disobeyed the 8th Amendment. Not always everyone has a mind that thinks this way, but I however, don’t think the same. Thinking back to what I discovered about juveniles and crimes, most of them commit harsh ones that seem that most people under 18 wouldn’t do, especially a child. Unfortunately, that sometimes is the case, and they must have a consequence that isn’t different compared to adults.
If they are tried as adults, they can set an example for other teenagers who are thinking about committing a crime for any reason. For example, In “On Punishment and Teen Killers,” Jenkins said that her younger sister who was pregnant and her husband were shot by a teenager for no reason except of the fact that he wanted to know what it feels to shoot somebody. Despite of serving three life sentences in prison which some people may disagree with because of his age, it is hard to believe how dangerous he could be to other people if some day he was released to live among us. Although it is hard to think that someone could do this awful crime at certain age, it still doesn’t change the fact that he did it and caused a huge pain and sorrow to their family that could affect them for years. In my opinion, a crime is a crime and for that reason Juveniles who commit violent crimes should be tried in the same way as adults. Also, the decline that occurred in most of the U.S. during the past decade coincides with the fact that most states now permit minors to be tried as adults for violent
First, according to Mental Health Daily, the brain is only roughly halfway through the entire stage of development at the age of 18. The prefrontal cortex doesn’t have nearly the functional capacity at age 18 as it does at 25. State by the Ethic book, Neuroscientist found that “moral grammar” exists around universal sense of right of wrong. Teen’s lack the part of the brain that helps with reasoning and judgment and do not have a fully developed cerebellum, which control impulses. This can separate teens from adults. Teenagers cannot possibly be expected to endure the same consequence as fully matured adults.
There has been lots controversies about juveniles and one of them is if a juvenile commits murder, should they get life in prison? Some people believe that juveniles who commit heinous crimes like murder should get life in prison while others believe that they should not. I agree with the idea that juveniles should get life in prison because of lots of reasons.
“should juvenile offenders be tried and punished as adults?” I deliberately think that all juvenile offenders should be tried and penalized as an adult because even though they are children, they still should be able to comprehend right from wrong, especially when there are dire situations. Now days children are way more intelligent than you think, with all this new technology, you can’t take anyone for granite. The frequency of young children committing these dreadful crimes has escalated enormously for the past couple of decades. There needs to be some type of justice for these innocent victims that are being affected or even killed by these juvenile offenders. As long as you understand what you did was wrong, then you should be tried and convicted as an adult as well. These juvenile systems let x amount of children off the hook when they reach a certain age, which is outrageous for the reasons of these heinous crimes that these immature children commit.
Throughout the years kids have been committing terrible crimes that are just as bad as the crimes an adult would commit, sometimes even worse. These children have received life sentences with the possibility of no parole along with counseling and even rehabilitation. Many believe that putting an adolescent in jail with a life sentences is a cruel and unfair punishment. In the past couple of years the law has changed to those under 18 will not be sent to jail, only to a rehabilitation center or juvenile hall for no more than a year. People believe that is much more suitable for a teenager rather than keeping them locked away in jail for more than what they’ve lived.