ipl-logo

Death Row Juveniles

350 Words2 Pages
Admittedly, in the United States, there are a large number of inmates currently on death row that have a psychological disorders due to correctional institutions programs. In the article, Death Row Inmate Characteristics, Adjustment, and Confinement: A Critical Review of the Literature by Mark D. Cunningham and Mark P. Vigen (2002) conducted a study to review research on death row inmates and the long-term effects of being incarcerated while waiting on death row. Additionally, the authors examined research on juvenile offenders on death row in the United States, finding that juvenile offenders are mostly executed around the age of 17 years old. According to, the study conducted the authors that argue “Approximately 70% of juvenile offenders
Show More
Related
984 Words | 4 Pages

Their cognitive part of brain, the frontal lobe, is still developing and from the research Thompson uncovered is that these undeveloped parts inhibit reckless behavior. Thompson says that “teens need all the help they can get to steer their development on to the right path” shows that we need to focus on reforming these children in the juvenile system and we cannot do that if we try them as adults. Who knows the mental damage being sent to maximum security prison can do to their minds? Constantly in fear of rape and being attacked by other inmates leads to psychological distress that makes them adults long before they have matured. For example, Alonza Thomas from Bakersfield was charged as an adult for robbing a gas station and he served 13 years in a maximum security prison with adults.

Read More
905 Words | 4 Pages

Richard Ross has interviewed over 1,000 juveniles in over 200 facilities all over the United States, he has gone to detention centers, correctional centers, and treatment centers. He has also worked alongside with the police department and juvenile courtrooms in order to get a better inside on how juveniles feel while they are locked up. All the people he has interviewed are as young as 10 years old to their late 20’s there are both females and males, who are placed behind bars. Almost 3 of every 4-youths detained in a facility for delinquency are not in there for a serious violent crime (Ross, 2012).

Read More
507 Words | 3 Pages

The article, “The Steep Costs of Keeping Juveniles in Adult Prisons” written by Jessica Lahey states, “Juveniles constitute 1,200 of the 1.5 million people housed in federal and state prisons in this country, and nearly 200,000 youth enter the adult criminal-justice system each year, most for non-violent crimes.” Minors should not be tried as adults because their brains are not developed, they may come from bad backgrounds, and they have their whole life ahead of them, and their life should not be determined by the mistakes they made as a child. Juveniles who are usually 14 or older who have committed serious crimes are tried as adults and are put into adult-state prisons. This is inhumane and unsafe for the child’s physical and mental health. One of the many reasons that minors should not be tried as adults is because their brains are not fully developed, so they cannot make good decisions until they are older, far into their twenties.

Read More
2470 Words | 10 Pages

Jessie Townsend May 3rd, 2016 Prof. Allen Wong ASOC283 Why Kids Get Life The documentary “When Kids Get Life” delves into four cases involving juveniles who are serving life without parole in Colorado prisons. All of these juveniles are serving this time due to first degree murder among other charges they have received. The ages of these juveniles at the time of their crimes range from fifteen to seventeen and all of them still currently remain incarcerated. By applying different delinquency theories to each case, there is a chance that one could explain or even rationalize why these juveniles committed the crimes that they did.

Read More
741 Words | 3 Pages

Do Juveniles Deserve Life Without Parole? The United States of America is the only country in which juveniles are allowed to be tried as adults with life without parole. As of today, approximately 3000 minors are condemned to life without the circumstance of parole (Stevenson). Children who carry out horrendous crimes should get the deserved punishment.

Read More
842 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
582 Words | 3 Pages

The article “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences” argues that children in prison need to be given a chance to mature and be rehabilitated (Garinger 9). Because these killers likely committed these crimes on impulse, they would often realize after the fact that they were wrong to do such an action. Therefore, when they are released, they will be more careful and think about their actions before committing. If they are given a life sentence, they will never be given this chance to fix their life. Older people who commit murders are less likely to learn from their mistakes since they put more thought into the killing than adolescents

Read More
1414 Words | 6 Pages

Due to being sentenced to adult prisons, juveniles have to face and experience more physical and psychological problems. Youths admitted into adult facilities face many health problems, both physical and mental problems such as "dental, vision, or hearing problems, as well as…depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal thoughts" (Mendel). Due to being sentenced to adult prisons, many juveniles have to suffer multiple physical and mental health problems as a result. Being admitted to these prisons causes more harm to juveniles that leave them with more problems instead of leaving with proper rehabilitation. Juveniles who are imprisoned in adult prisons are at an increased risk of developing diseases, oral health problems, and being assaulted, also exhibiting a higher rate of suicide than those who are incarcerated in juvenile institutions (Holland).

Read More
515 Words | 3 Pages

Juvenile Justice Essay In the United States, there have been many cases where a juvenile would be found guilty and be tried as an adult. There are other cases where those juveniles are tried as adult forever. I am against charging juveniles as adults when they commit violent crimes, the juveniles lose many educational opportunities and the adult system is far too dangerous for the young juveniles. Juveniles are also young kids but only the fact that they do not get the same amount of education or experience that other teens gain.

Read More
622 Words | 3 Pages

Sentencing juveniles to prison happens to be a very controversial topic today. Many people believe that juveniles should receive the same consequences as an adult criminal and a vast amount of people believe that juveniles should be given a second chance. I personally believe that a child should not be given the same consequences as an adult so the question I would like to pose to my audience is should juvenile offenders be offered the same consequences as adult offenders? Statistics show that across the nation at least 1,200 people are sentenced to life without parole for a crime they committed when they were under the age of 18. Majority of people will argue that this justified because if a child is given a second chance they will continue to commit crimes in the future.

Read More
506 Words | 3 Pages

We have seen today in society of how crime rates have been rampant and how statistics show that most of the crimes were being made by minors. I believe that when most of them look at the bottom of these young offenders come disproportionately from impoverished single-parent homes that are located in the neighbourhoods desinvertido and have high rates of learning disabilities, mental health, and substance abuse and problems with the help of the system of juvenile justice that can make a great return on a successful transition to adulthood. Their ages ranged from 20 and under, most are under fifteen years of age. Juveniles tried as adults must assume the same consequences as any other criminal and are subject to state prisons with inmates much higher and that have probably committed crimes much more tortuous then you could ever have. These minors between the ages of nine to twenty according to the offence committed or of the number of times that are prosecuted and believe that it is immutable.

Read More
281 Words | 2 Pages

Similar to adults, children as young as seven getting placed into juvenile-detention facilities, 15,000 children, 8% of the children in juvenile detention have had no charges, for mental illness (Glazer, 2017). Children detention facilities are supposed to be structured to return children to society, however in recent years have begun to mimic adult prisons, ignoring their focus on rehabilitation. Children in the facilities become over medicated or receive no medication at all, while due to understaffing often never speak to a counselor (McDermott, S. 2016). Compared to adult prisons where 12-15% in adult prisons are severely ill, 65-80% of children are qualifying as severely mentally ill (McDermott, S. 2016). Theory suggest that children are

Read More
849 Words | 4 Pages

There are differences between a juvenile court and criminal court in the United States. The focus of the juvenile justice system is on rehabilitation, in hope of deterring the minor away from a life of crime so they will not commit a crime again as an adult. In contrast, the criminal justice system focuses on the punishment and often bases the sentencing outcome on the criminal history of the youth. In a study conducted, Butler (2011) showed that the participants’ experience with adult jails and prisons show that those facilities may instill fear but are otherwise emotionally—and often physically—dangerous for youth. Many of the adult prisoners, who were minors when they enter the adult institution, felt they were forced to “grow

Read More
1979 Words | 8 Pages

In today’s world there are countless crimes committed every single day. “In 2015, there were 1.42 million total arrests, at a rate of 3,641 arrests per 100,000 residents” (State of California, Department of Justice). Grown adults are not the only people being arrested every year, there are also juveniles, children, being arrested every day. One topic of controversy today is whether or not juveniles who commit these crimes should be tried as adults in criminal court. There are many differences between the justice system for adults and the justice system for juveniles.

Read More
729 Words | 3 Pages

Some people believe that juveniles shouldn’t get sentenced to life in prison because of brain studies, age, and the way of living. Recent brain studies have suggested that teenagers suffer from brain-tissue loss, this might be the reason why they commit idiotic decisions. In Gail Garingers article “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences” she states “Young people are biologically different from adults.” Then she talks about the young adolescents being sentenced to die in prison. Also how there is a myth about the superpredator and how children are hopelessly

Read More

More about Death Row Juveniles

Related Topics

Open Document