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. As every child grows up in a different environment, not all have a safe one to grow up in and as a result everything that surrounds them becomes apart of the clarity that their mind incorporates and becomes apart of that child 's behavior of way. In terms of brain development children or teens often listen, and see what is around them, it is also said, by researchers of the National Institute of Health, that in recent studies that were made that in teen years massive loss of brain tissue... ... middle of paper ... ...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.
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.
Juveniles should not receive mandatory life in prison because their brains aren’t fully developed which is why we treat them differently from adults. Just because they commit a crime does not make them older, they should be treated the same way regardless of the crime. In the United States, we grow up in a violent loving culture with weapons being shown in movies, talked about in music, TV shows, and even cartoons. Not everybody grows up in perfect living conditions, and because they are still young they are influenced by what they see and experience around them. When kids commit a crime, it shouldn’t go unpunished however; they shouldn’t be sentenced to life.
Juvenile Justice Juvenile justice is the decision whether or not to charge a juvenile as an adult. When a juvenile is charged as an adult, they are sentenced to long prison terms and sometimes life. In 2012 two groups of judges came together, one group believes that Juveniles should be allowed to be sentenced to life in prison and the other group believes that Juveniles should not be allowed to be sentenced to life in prison. I agree with the group of judges that believe that juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison. Age is a factor in why juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison.
Having to grow up in a prison, especially one where they do not care about your feelings, really impacts him cognitively. I think juveniles should not be trialed as adults because there is harsher punishment. According to PBS, "Most leniently parents who kill their children but most harshly child in who kill their parents". During adolescent development decision making is weak, which comes from the brain being so vulnerable. I think in the special case of juveniles they are not harden criminals. In the cases of Jacob Ind and Nathan Ybanez I feel as if the teenagers had a build up of bottled emotions, and couldn't handle it anymore. With the brain being so vulnerable and decision making being so weak I think the teens snapped. After years of abuse and sadness I think the teens thought as if there was no other way out. Either the parents die or they do. Instead of being trialed as adults and spending life in prison, I think adolescents who commit crime should have an alternative that will not negatively impact their brain development. I think the problem derives from the adolescents seeking the wrong coping mechanism. If the adolescents could experience help from adults and professional rather than channeling it through violence and drugs, less crime from adolescents would
Garinger Gail “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences” The New York Times, 14 March 2012. The New York Times 7 May 2014.
According to the article of “Should Juveniles Be Tried as Adults?” at Buzzle.com, “It is a proven fact that when a child is at the age around nine or ten that they do not have the mental accessibility to think as an adult” (Borkar). Citizens see this statistic as a reason as to why children should not be tried as adults. “Children are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted in adult prisons than in juvenile facilities” (Equal Justice Initiative). These juveniles are subject to much harsher punishments which includes life sentencing (Michon). These people do not feel that these children should be in a prison for the rest of their life for something they did when they were 13. Broken families can be a reason for a child to rebel and become trouble. “Psychology speaking, it is said that there are no ‘problem children’ but only ‘problem parents’” (Borkar). Parents roles are to guide their kids in the right way. Children will not know what is right or wrong if parents do n...
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.
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.
You can’t look at a juvenile and give him life in prison like you would to an adult when mentally he is nowhere near that. In the article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” by Paul Thompson is states that we lose brain tissue at a rapid rate during our teenage years and what teenagers are losing are the brain cells and connections related to areas controlling impulse, risk-taking and self-control. This explains how a kid who has committed a crime didn’t mean to do it but he has little self-control and just acted on impulse because right now at the age he is at his brain is very immature in those areas since it’s losing all the tissue. Even though it’s normal for this to happen it could explain why so many kids act on impulse in their teenage years instead of thinking of the consequences. In the article “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences” by Gail Garinger it states “ ‘juvenile offenders cannot with reliability be classified among the worst offenders’ they are less mature, more vulnerable to peer pressure, cannot escape from dangerous environments, and their characters are still in formation.” this explains to us how kids can be easily manipulated to do crimes and it all goes back to the mental development, at that stage in their life they are barely being developed as people and anyone can easily take advantage of that so it wouldn’t be fair to punish them harshly instead we could set them on the right
There has been a debatable question going around in the justice system about rather or
"Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time." -- David Grusin and Morgan Ames
When a juvenile commits a heinous crime, they are not just hurting themselves and their family, they are also hurting the victim’s family. I agree that juveniles should get life in prison if they commit a heinous crime because they are hurting other people's love ones. In the article On punishment and teen killers by Jennifer Jenkins, published on Aug 2, 2011, says “there are no words adequate to describe what this kind of traumatic loss does to a victim’s family”. She is practically saying that these juveniles destroy other people’s families by them committing such a horrible crime.
As other experiments have been done, more statistics have found “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 “Adolescent Brains Open to Change: teens’ neural wiring is extra sensitive to outside influence” by Laura Sander, it explains that the brain is still in the process of development and when it comes to new influence, the brain needs time to adjust to our own age.... ... middle of paper ... ...
The Supreme Court ruled that Juveniles in the US are committing many more murders everyday. After reading many articles, I have noticed it makes me have a positive aspect in life as kids commit crimes that were not intended to. It is understandable a child's brain isn't fully developed but it is harsh getting life without a parole because these kids grow with a different mind set but not all some children may be ill forever but once committing a crime you should be under observation to see how they may progress on things. Many kids don’t realize what they are doing, some are just influenced by other kids to just fit in the crowd. Usually, the parents are the ones that are suppose to be taking care of their children but sometimes the children are the ones taking care of their parents. This can lead to the children committing a crime without realizing the consequences that they will face in the future. The parents should know if their child has any symptoms of them saying or acting violent towards others, which is not the correct way a child should be thinking. This is why we
Today?s court system is left with many difficult decisions. One of the most controversial being whether to try juveniles as adults or not. With the number of children in adult prisons and jails rising rapidly, questions are being asked as to why children have been committing such heinous crimes and how will they be stopped. The fact of the matter is that it is not always the children's fault for their poor choices and actions; they are merely a victim of their environment or their parents. Another question asked is how young is too young. Children who are too young to see an R rated film unaccompanied are being sent to adult prisons. The only boundaries that seem to matter when it comes to being an adult are laws that restrain kids from things such as alcohol, pornography, and other materials seen as unethical. Children that are sent to adult prison are going to be subjected to even more unprincipled ideas and scenes. When children can be sent to jail for something as minor as a smash and grab burglary, the judicial system has errors. The laws that send juveniles to adult prisons are inhumane, immoral, and unjust. Kids are often incompetent, which leads to unfair trials. Adult prisons are also very dangerous for minors, and in many cases this leads to more juvenile crimes.