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should young juveniles be punished like adults
should young juveniles be punished like adults
hippocratic oath and the ethics of medicine
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A 16 year old boy is at the peak of their adolescent life, learning and discovering about puberty, maturity, right and wrong and future life goals. On the other hand, a man of 25 has matured, lived long enough to have made both good and bad judgments and has already been in the process of achieving those life goals they once thought of as a teenager. In a given situation, is it ethical to hold these two age groups, with mentalities that are worlds apart, to the same standards and punishments in the justice system? Until Roper v. Simmons in 2005, the justice system did just that, treat the actions of 16 year old with the same consequences as if they had been committed by an adult. In Roper v. Simmons the United States Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile under the age of 18 to the death penalty. Before, Roper v. Simmons, in Thompson v. Oklahoma it had been decided that only those under the age of 16 could not be considered for the death penalty. Were these decisions correct? If an adolescent can commit such a heinous crime as homicide should they not also be able then to handle the consequences? The other side of the argument against the juvenile death penalty states that juveniles do not have the same reasoning skills as an adult and therefore cannot be held to same criminal blameworthiness.
Facts will show that the United States Supreme Court was correct in their decision to ban the death penalty for all those under the age of eighteen. Recent brain imaging scans have shown that an adolescent’s brain is not fully developed until late in adolescence causing them to be immature, have diminished decision making capacity and underdeveloped reasoning and thinking skills (Aronson, 2007); qualities which ...
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...onduct. (2011). Ethics and Judicial Conduct. Guide to Judiciary Policy, 1-19.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. (2010, August 18). Brain Basics: Know Your Brain. Retrieved July 2011, from National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/know_your_brain.htm
North, M. (2002). Greek Medicine: The Hippocratic Oath. Retrieved July 2011, from National Institute of Health: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/greek_oath.html
Paus, T. (2005). Mapping Brain Maturation and Cognitive Development During Adolescence. TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences, 60-68.
Steinberg, L., & Scott, E. S. (2003). Less Guilty by Reason of Adolescence. American Psychologist, 1009-1018.
Strater, S. D. (1994-1995). The Juvenile Death Penalty: In the Best Interests of the Child? Layola University Chicago Law Journal, 147-182.
The article titled “ Juvenile Justice from Both Sides of the Bench”, published by PBS, and written by Janet Tobias and Michael Martin informs readers on numerous judges’ opinions on the juveniles being tried as adults. Judge Thomas Edwards believed that juveniles should not be tried as adults because they are still not mature enough to see the consequences of their actions and have a chance to minimize this behavior through rehabilitation programs. Judge LaDoris Cordell argues that although we shouldn’t give up on juveniles and instead help them be a part of society, however, she believes that some sophisticated teens that create horrible crimes should be tried as adults. Bridgett Jones claims that teens think differently than adults and still
Hale, Robert L. A Review of Juvenile Executions in America. Vol. 3. Wales: Edwin Mellen, 1997. Print.
It is expected that at a young age, children are taught the difference between what is right and what is wrong in all types of situations. The majority of Supreme Court Justices abolished mandatory life in prison for juveniles that commit heinous crimes, argued this with the consideration of age immaturity, impetuosity, and also negative family and home environments. These violent crimes can be defined as murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault and the like depending on state law. With these monstrous acts in mind the supreme court justices argument could be proven otherwise through capability and accountability, the underdevelopment of the teenage brain and the severity of the crime. Juveniles commit heinous crimes just like adults
Twenty years ago Don Henley sang a song called “The End of the Innocence,” and portrayed a coming of age scenario. In Henley’s song, he sings the lines, “Offer up your best defense/ but this is the end/ this is the end of the innocence.” The disputable age-of-accountability permeates American society. In the essay, “Too Immature for the Death Penalty,” Paul Raeburn offers his defense into the chemical and environmental make-up of juveniles in their decision-making processes. However, the issue of personal accountability, or an end of innocence, is never brought up. Regardless of age, Americans cannot avoid decisions, because decisions determine destinies. Individuals choose either the path of wisdom or the path of folly, and no one can postpone or sidestep these choices. When does responsibility begin and accountability end? While juveniles’ brains may not be fully developed, juveniles must be held accountable for their actions. No matter what age group is involved, murder is still murder, and requires the death penalty to enforce the consequences of the crime.
Similarly, going along with the prior rebuttal of the importance of differentiating juvenile’s characteristics and actions of that of an adult, science is compiling more evidence of its vitality. Many adults can look back and reminisce about an action he or she did when younger and say, “Wow I cannot believe I did that.” Science has proven the reason behind that is because an adolescent’s brain has not yet fully matured. Tsui states “Studies conclusively established that the brain of an adolescent is not fully developed, particularly in the area of the prefrontal cortex, which is critical to higher order cognitive functioning and impulse control” (645). The facts of scientific research need to be taken into consideration when distinguishing
Every year, children as young as thirteen and fourteen are sentenced to die in prison in the United States. Judges rule these sentences without considering factors such as age and life circumstances. According to studies, there are about 2000 children serving juvenile sentences in the United States (Nellis 30). Further, Studies indicated that 25 percent of the young individuals serving life without parole were convicted accomplice liability, meaning they may not have committed the crime or may not know the primary perpetrators of the crime (Steinberg and Scott 54). All this happens despite the global consensus that children should not handle the same way as adults. This paper explores juvenile life sentencing as a social issue that is affecting
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.
Adolescents under the age of eighteen are too young to stand trial and are not fully aware ...
For decades, the contentious issue on whether or not juveniles should be tried as adults for heinous crimes has stirred up a gargantuan amount of disputation. However, juveniles are taken into account as “children” only under certain circumstances. When the situation comes to smoking, drinking, voting and watching rated-R movies, juveniles are merely children. However, when the circumstances are absolute, juries are so compelled to have children be tried as adults when juveniles commit severe crimes that courts go to the extent of sentencing juveniles to long-term punishments. Nonetheless, juveniles who are tried as adults arise significantly more problems than they had before, thus, juveniles should not be tried as adults in spite of that it causes so much controversy and is
Sentencing juveniles to capital punishment is unethical and cruel. It is too severe for juveniles without the full reasoning ability and limited brain development to be sentence to the death penalty. Horn (2009) writes, “Youths lack the sense of responsibility that society requires of adults. Their personalities are not yet fixed… Young people have to little experience to fully grasp the consequences of their actions.” (Horn, 2009). This shows that juveniles do not have the experience that adults have to be like adults. Also, Stevenson (2014) writes, “Contemporary neurological, psychological…evidence has established that children are impaired by immature judgement, an underdeveloped capacity for self-regulation and responsibility, vulnerability to negative influences and outside pressures, and a lack of control over their own impulses and their environment.” (Stevenson, 2014, pg. 267-268). Stevenson (2014) is basically saying that children are not matured as adults and the court needs to look at these facts before giving such punishments. Not only that, Stevenson (2014) says, “Young adolescents lack life experience and background knowledge to inform their choices; they struggle to generate options and to imagine consequences; and, perhaps for good reason, they lack the necessary self-confidence to make reasoned judgements and stick by them” (Stevenson, 2014, pg. 268-269). Children should be
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.
Jake Evans, a 17-year-old teenage boy, murdered his mother and sister by firing multiple gunshots at home in Texas (Brown, 2012; Walsh, 2012). After this heinous act, he made a 911 call to inform the dispatcher what he had done with a calm voice. Evans’s cold-blood double homicide case led the media to depict him as an malevolent adolescent, even the judge hearing over Evans’s case refused to drop the capital murder charge against Evans (Winter, 2013). The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that individuals who are under the age of 18 at the time of their offense should not be sentenced to death or life without parole (Miller v. Alabama, 2012; Roper v. Simmons, 2005). Evans’s public defender requested to try the boy with murder instead of capital murder which has only two punitive sentencing outcomes in Texas--- life without parole and death penalty (Douglas, 2013). However, both sentences would be unconstitutional to Evans because he was 17 years old when he committed offense (Winter, 2013). As the judge insisted to charge Evans with the capital offense, once Evans was convicted, the judge, however, will face another issue which is how to deliver a lawful and appropriate verdict. Therefore, to resolve the problem, the Texas District and County Attorneys Association is attempting to revise the law without violating the initial Supreme Court ruling (Winter, 2013). When the public and the media encounter cases like Jake Evans’s, they tend to overemphasize on what the defendants have done and how to punish them rather focus on what happened to the juvenile offenders while growing up and what drove them to their actions. The purpose of this essay is to shift from the unjust emphasis on one portion of cases, the legal process, to how this al...
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
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,
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.