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Analysis Of Locked Away Forever By Patricia Smith

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“Thump! The jury finds you guilty! Three life sentences without parole!” the young boys and girls that hear this sentence generally aren’t considered the best of kids, however locking away a juvenile for life takes much more thought than it takes to address this sentence to a legal adult. In “Locked Away Forever” by Patricia Smith the question is attempted to be answered, which is should juveniles receive life sentences without chance of parole? In the article it states, “The court said that minors who commit terrible crimes are less responsible than adults: They are less mature, more susceptible to peer pressure, and their personalities are not yet fully formed.” In this quote the author is reasoning against life without parole because they are less mature and not fully developed. Although all crimes deserve proper punishment, juveniles should not receive life without parole because they are still developing and this punishment leaves no room for a second chance …show more content…

The quote in this article that supports this idea that juveniles deserve second comes on page two, ”“Ninety percent of teen offenders do not become adult criminals” says Laurence Steinberg, a psychology professor at Temple University in Philadelphia.” In this quote it is stating that just because someone commits a crime when they were younger by no means does it mean that they will commit such a crime again. The significance of this is that if they will most likely not commit a crime again, they should receive a chance of parole after a justifiable amount of time if they show remorse for their

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The main argument expressed in the article "Greg Ousley is Sorry for Killing His Parents. is that Enough?" is that juveniles/kids should not be sentenced to prison for long term, even if they commit severe crimes, and they have the ability to rehabilitate themselves, so they should not serve this long term sentences when they are showing improvement. An example that gives the author is the case of Greg Ousley, a teen who killed his parents at the age of 14, and that now with a age of 33 years he still serving the 60 years sentence. The author Scott Anderson interviewed Greg during a few sessions. When Anderson interviewed Greg, he saw a completely mature man with wishes to work with young people, to teach them what can go wrong by using his life as an

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There are certain instances of juveniles being tried as adults and sometimes ending up getting a life sentence without a chance of parole. I find that pretty harsh because there have been some cases where the juvenile meant no harm, they were either confused or brought along by gang members and they end up being charged along with the gang members for just being with them when a crime goes down. I believe that juveniles do not deserve to be given a life sentence because for one they are still maturing, they can learn from their mistakes and make amends, we still have to combat crimes like intended murder committed by a juvenile with extreme punishments especially if they are well over the age of 16. In the article published by the New York Times on March 14, 2012 “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences”, Garinger discusses that juveniles deserve a second chance since their brains are still developing.

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This means that ones they killed somebody and they can get out from it, they’ll see that other’s life ain’t precious. In their mind, they’ll think that every time they do a crime they can just get out from it again. In addition, juveniles should be treated like adults when they commit any crime because they will learn from it and regret what they’ve done. In the article “Study: Throwing Kids in Jail Makes Crime Worse, Ruins Lives” it’s stated that “Young offenders who were incarcerated were a staggering 67% more likely to be in jail again by the age of 25 than similar offender who didn’t go in prison.”

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They are “uniquely capable of change” but some still continue to make decisions that harm others or themselves (Mauer). In fact, many juveniles sentenced to life “had already received a second chance” (Scheigger). These juveniles know the crimes they are committing are severe, but they still make the conscious decision to commit the said crime. It is important when juveniles commit a severe crime that it is recognized that they “[crossed] a line, and they have to be treated as adults, and be punished as adults” (Liptak). These kids know that what they are doing is wrong, and they should be held accountable for

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Teenagers are not perfect, and their irrational behavior can lead to poor decisions that could potentially be dangerous and unlawful. A debate has now occurred for many years that deals with the issue of sentencing teens that have committed serious crimes such as murder and robbery. Many people argue that if juveniles commit these crimes that their punishment should be equal to an adults punishment for serious crimes, but juveniles shouldn’t have to worry about their lives getting ruined. Most juveniles and teenagers do not have enough maturity to survive in the adult prison system, and recent brain development research shows us that teenagers brains are not even close to being finished developing. Therefore, teenagers and youth under the age of eighteen should

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