Day after day in this country there is a debate going
on about the death penalty and whether we as people have the
right to decide the fate of another persons life. When we
examine this issue we usually consider those we are arguing
about to be older men and women who are more than likely
hardened criminals with rap sheets longer than the height we
stand (Farley & Willwerth, 1998). They have made a career of
crime, committing it rather than studying it, and somewhere
along the line a jury of their peers decided enough was
enough. They were handed down the most severe and most
final punishment of them all, death. Behind all of the
controversy that this issue raises lies a different group of
people that are not so often brought into the lime light,
juveniles. This proposes a problem entangled with another;
if we do decide to carry out death sentences, what is the
minimum age limit? Can we electrocute, lethally inject, or
gas any one who commits a crime that is considered capital?
In this paper the issue of capital punishment for
juveniles will be discussed, basically laying out a
comprehensive look at the matter. First we will briefly
look at the history of both juvenile justice and the history
of the death penalty in regards to juveniles. Secondly we
will take a short look at the two major court cases that
dealt with this issue in the United States. Next this paper
will present the factual statistics of the death penalty for
juveniles and also take a look at our country's stance on
the issue in the international arena. We will then spend a
short time looking at some views on the juvenile death
penalty, reasons for the death penalty itself, and the
arguments for and against the death pe...
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Gonnerman, J. (2000, January 5). Kids on the row. The
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Promises broken: Children in conflict with the law. (1999,
December). Available: http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/crp/
promises/law.html
Ricotta, D. (1988). Eighth amendment-the death penalty for
juveniles: A state's right or a child's injustice. Journal
of Criminal Law & Criminology, 79, 921-951.
Streib, V. (2000, June). The death penalty today: Death
sentences and executions for juvenile crimes January 1,
1973-June 30, 2000. Available: http://www.law.onu.edu/
faculty/streib/juvdeath.htm
Whitman, L. (2000, June 20). Bush should halt Texas
execution: Human Rights Watch letter to the Texas board
of
pardons and paroles. Available: http://www.hrw.org/press/
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Hale, Robert L. A Review of Juvenile Executions in America. Vol. 3. Wales: Edwin Mellen, 1997. Print.
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
In the United States, each year, there are numerous juvenile delinquents who are given mandatory life prison sentences. This paper will explain how a troubled boy at the age of 15 winds up being convicted, receiving one of the harshest punishments in the United States, and what actions may prevent future occurrence of this event happening to the lives of other delinquent youth.
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
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.
Although the death penalty alone cannot bring back the life of those who have been murdered, it can serve as ultimate justice for the victims and their families. The deterrence of the death penalty can save lives. While opinions abound on both sides of the fence, in the use of the death penalty on juveniles, no one can argue with the fact that the voices of those murdered cannot be heard. Juveniles may not have fully developed brains, as Raeburn argues, but this is not an adequate excuse to dismiss the death penalty. American society cannot afford to babysit murderers, nor can they rehabilitate them. The end of the innocence begins when an innocent life is taken, and the sanctity of life is held defenseless.
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
Today, we live in a society faced with many problems, including crime and the fear that it creates. In the modern era, juveniles have become a part of society to be feared, not rehabilitated. The basis of the early juvenile justice system was to rehabilitate and create safe havens for wayward youth. This is not the current philosophy, although the U.S. is one of the few remaining countries to execute juveniles. Presently, our nation is under a presidential administration that strongly advocates the death penalty, including the execution of juveniles. The media and supporters of capital punishment warn of the "superpredator," the juvenile with no fear, remorse, or conscience. Opponents of this view encourage the idea that another death is only revenge, not deterrence. We will examine the rights allotted to juvenile offenders, and the punishments inflicted upon them for violations of the law.
developing mentally and emotionally. This can lead to poor decision-making and impulsive behavior. Additionally, studies have shown that juveniles are more likely to be influenced by peer pressure and external factors, which can lead to criminal behavior. Therefore, it is important to consider the age and developmental stage of the offender when determining the appropriate punishment. Instead of the death penalty, alternative forms of punishment such as rehabilitation and counseling should be considered for juvenile offenders.
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...
Juveniles deserve to be tried the same as adults when they commit certain crimes. The justice systems of America are becoming completely unjust and easy to break through. Juvenile courts haven’t always been known to the everyday person.
"Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time." -- David Grusin and Morgan Ames
Last year alone, over five hundred and fifty people were murdered in Canada. The criminals were sentenced to serve twenty-five years imprisoned for the life/lives that they thieved. Imagine, waking up to discover the dread of your loved one, dead. Imagine the blow to your stomach, the pain and agony, and the hollowness of your throat. Imagine discovering that the assassin that killed your loved one was only to serve twenty-five years for taking a life. Imagine knowing your tax money went to assist the criminal in jail, instead of helping towards the park your loved one used to adore. Imagine watching more criminals commit crimes because the punishment isn't very severe. Imagine protecting yourself from your community because of are potential attackers. Without the death penalty, you won’t have to imagine. These thoughts will eventually become a reality. I think that the death penalty is an effective and compelling manner to settle murder and homicide because it threatens criminals, it provides a safer environment for communities, and the death penalty saves a lot of money for the government.
Should juveniles be sentenced to prison for life? Should juveniles be trialed as adults after committing a heinous crime and sentenced to life? As a teenager, this question is far too complicated to answer because I am a teenager yet in my opinion, I believe that the juvenile should not be sentenced to life. I believe that there is another way to punish them for their crimes. The last execution was in 2006 in California.
not? That is Something that society doesn't have a clear answer on. Most people in the world support the death