Joseph Fleming
Juvenile Justice
Jonesboro School Shooting
May 5, 2014
On March 24, 1998 in Jonesboro, Arkansas five people were murdered and ten people were injured. The fifteen were victims of an act of gun violence when two young Westside Middle School students decided to attack their school with firearms. Mitchell Scott Johnson born August 11, 1984 age 13 at the time of the shooting and Andrew Douglas Golden born May 25, 1986 age 11 at the time of the shooting. Johnson and Golden were both charged with five counts of murder and ten counts of aggravated assault. Both served their time in the juvenile justice system because in order to be waived to the adult system in the state of Arkansas the offender at the time must have been at least 14 years old. The two severed their time in Alexander Arkansas at the Arkansas Department of Human Services. Johnson was released after seven years on his 21st birthday in 2005. The same went for Golden after serving nine years.
On the eve of the Jonesboro shooting Johnson and Golden stole Johnson’s mother’s Dodge Caravan filling it with camping supplies, food, and multiple firearms that consisted of a “Remington 742 .30-06 rifle, Universal .30 M1 Carbine replica, Smith & Wesson .38 revolver, Double Deuce Buddie .22 two-shot derringer, Star .380 pistol, FIE .380 pistol, Rugger Security Six .357 revolver, Davis Industries .38 two-shot derringer, and a Charter Arms .38 revolver” the boys acquired the firearms from Golden’s grandfather and father. All the weapons used were legally owned by Golden’s grandfather and father and were said to be on display on the wall. The two were also said to be members of gun clubs and raised around guns. Golden also reportedly shot several dogs in preparation for ...
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...iatric help would be the best option. In Johnson’s situation personally I think that sending him to a prison like facility was a mistake because of his ideologies of what gang life was like sending him to a prison like facility would allow him more exposure to the lifestyle he idolized. I think the state of Arkansas did the best they could with what was presented to them and with the extended juvenile jurisdiction act they executed a plan to prevent future problems.
In closing we will never forget what happened that day, but even we the juvenile justice system is put to its limits it still finds a way to adapt and overcome like it has so many times in the past. Johnson and Golden will live forever in this country because of the fascination with gun violence in America. To think if maybe the firearms were locked up that this incident might not have happened at all.
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
The killings of unarmed black men have increased tremendously with different races to blame for. In January 2011, the life of Justin Patterson was snatched from him and his family by Mr. Neesmith, who only served in prison for one year. How do you think the community of Toombs County and Justin's family feel about him only serving one year in a detention center? Many people protested that the racial issues behind his travesty caused an upstir in the world, including the murder of Trayvon Martin that just recently happened in Florida during that time. However, Justin Patterson's murder did not make national news or even in the papers because most people thought he was just another dead man.
On October 20, 2014 a young male teen was fatally shot in Chicago, Illinois. The shooting occurred in the middle of the road and the suspect that was fatally shot was named Laquan McDonald. McDonald was just 17 years old and was the suspect after initial reports placed him in the scene of a possible car jacking. It was reported that Laquan McDonald had a knife and was also seen slashing tires of a police cruiser. When police had finally had him surrounded in the middle of the road, one officer opened fire and released 16 shots into his body. Another deputy on hand said the use of force was not needed because Laquan was not in any way trying to attack the officers present. The officer who fired the 16 shots into Laquan is named Jason D. Van
Justice was not served in the controversial nature of the Bernhard Goetz subway shooting trial. After shooting four black teenagers, Bernhard Goetz turned himself into the police in Concord, New Hampshire. He was denominated, “The Subway Vigilante”. This case was brought to court approximately two years later, where Bernhard Goetz would ultimately be voted guilty of one count of illegal firearms possession, and served just six months in jail. Following the trials, questions are still being asked if justice has been served.
In conclusion John Allen Muhammad was executed for the 2002 D.C. sniper shooting. Now the city of Washington D. C. can rest easy knowing they are not in harm’s way. Have the lives of the people who have lost loved ones been drastically changed for the worst, or has their lives become easier with time? Hopefully they will regain strength to carry on and pass this tragedy of the sniper shooting. This tragedy should be a lesson for everyone to deal with things and not let those things control every aspect of people’s lives and how they live it.
After contacting and interviewing all three suspects, we discovered the suspects killed the victim during a argument over a gun that had been used in an earlier robbery. Ballistics from a gun discovered in a inspection found one of the suspect suspects matched the weapon used in the shooting. The suspects were arrested and charged with second-degree murder. The case was closed and this concludes my summary of my
On December 14th 2012, just 11 days before Christmas, an awful tragedy happened in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were shot at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. This awful event left a lot of unanswered questions and rumors about that day. The reason for that is because the shooter killed himself after shooting twenty young children and six adults. This tragedy open the eyes of everyone; made you want to hug your loves one just a little tighter, appreciate what you still have and never take a day for granted. Even our president Barack Obama felt the pain of all those who lost their loved ones in this event. He insured everyone that he will do everything in his power to make sure a tragedy like this will not happen again. However, did you know that there have been over 44 school shootings since the tragedy of Sandy Hook Elementary shooting? I know as a future teacher and mother I want to make sure my children are safe in this world and even at school. I want to be able to make a difference in this issue and have some knowledge to have I can do that. The society should understand what really happen during the Sandy Hook event, the reasons behind why school shootings/violence are rapidly increasing each year, and have some knowledge about what we, as a society, can do to help in order for us to start seeing a decrease of these events.
Have you ever heard the term, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid?” or “You have drank the Kool-Aid.”? Well, ”Drinking the Kool-Aid” means you have done something that others have told you to do or did yourself. This saying comes from the cult society led by Reverend Jim Jones, named Jonestown. Jonestown was a small community in the jungle of Guyana, South America. After getting word of people coming to investigate the society, Jones had committed a mass suicide by poisoning Kool-Aid and giving it to the people of Jonestown.
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were authored in secret by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in response to the repressive Alien and Sedition Acts passed in 1798. In the opinion of Jefferson and Madison, the Acts were unjust. They also represented a major victory for the Federalists. By writing the Resolutions, Jefferson and Madison spearheaded the protests of those against the Alien and Sedition Acts and those in support of stronger states’ rights. Although the Resolutions were successful in the two originating states, they did not have much success in the other states. Still, the new ideas presented in the Resolutions were almost revolutionary. Although the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 and 1799 were not very successful, they were important because they provided necessary arguments for the supporters of greater states’ rights against the proponents of a stronger central government.
The one good thing that I believe comes from this case is that it educated America on the mistakes being made by a law enforcement entity. The attitudes portrayed by these officers are terrible and, regretfully, most likely common. What it did was wake us up by showing us how biased criminal investigations can be and that bigotry has no place in the criminal justice system.
...ing beckoned in with the 21st century. While U.S.’s JLWOP laws are inconsistent with many human rights treatises and with international law, it is more important for our policies to be based on a thorough understanding of the issue- the most essential being a separation of the processes for juvenile and adult criminal offenders. With an emphasis on rehabilitation for juvenile offenders, and the goal of encouraging maturity and personal development after wayward actions, the futures of many teens in the criminal justice system can become much more hopeful.
School shootings have gone up in tremendous numbers since the Columbine mass shooting in 1999. This unfortunately opened a door to cause malicious copycats to react such crimes that still happen to this year. There have been 200 shootings at school in the last past decade. School shootings have an impact on how we go to school everyday without knowing there is a possibility of being attacked because of a heinous crime. One of America’s most deadly social problem is school shootings because it can create mental problems for students, they occur because of bullying, and can lead to unemployment.
Jenkins Jennifer “On Punishment and Teen Killers.” Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, 2 August 2011. 7 May 2014.
A deep look into juveniles in adult prisons. Touch bases on several smaller issues that contribute to juveniles being in and effects of adult prisons. The United States Bureau of Prisons handles two hundred and thirty-nine juveniles and their average age is seventeen. Execution of juveniles, The United States is one of only six countries to execute juveniles. There are sixty-eight juveniles sitting on death row for crimes committed as juveniles. Forty-three of those inmates are minorities. People, who are too young to vote, drink alcohol, or drive are held to the same standard of responsibility as adults. In prisons, they argue that the juveniles become targets of older, more hardened criminals. Brian Stevenson, Director of the Alabama Capital Resource Center said, “We have totally given up in the idea of reform of rehabilitation for the very young. We are basically saying we will throw those kids away. Leading To Prison Juvenile Justice Bulletin Report shows that two-thirds of juveniles apprehended for violent offenses were released or put on probation. Only slightly more than one-third of youths charged with homicide was transferred to adult criminal court. Little more than one out of every one hundred New York youths arrested for muggings, beatings, rape and murder ended up in a correctional institution. Another report showed a delinquent boy has to be arrested on average thirteen times before the court will act more restrictive than probation. Laws began changing as early as 1978 in New York to try juveniles over 12 who commit violent crimes as adults did. However, even since the laws changed only twenty percent of serious offenders served any time. The decision of whether to waive a juven...
In Ohio every public school district should be required to have police officers. There have been over 170 school shootings in the United States, of those, over 160 deaths and over 260 injuries were resulted since 2013 alone. Few, If none of those states had police officers. When districts put trained forces in their schools, only then will the rate of deaths from school shootings decrease. If a shooting were to happen at a school with officers, then that school would be prepared. Putting officers in schools will decrease the chance of their even being a shooting, because of the power that they are known to have. There is an average of one school shooting every day in the United States due to lack of protection, and trained forces. Many people will argue that it will be less expensive to train teachers and staff, rather than have police officers.