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Disparities In Juvenile Prisons

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Life in in american prison is a brutal experience. Tensions run high as criminals are confined to to cells and given minimal interactions with the outside world; admittedly for some convict a life sentence is due punishments, but for juveniles with life sentences their actions as a teen can end their life before it even begins. For juveniles who have committed a violent crime, (defined as robbery; murder and non-intentional manslaughter, rape, and aggravated assault by the FBI), life sentences are fairly common. In fact, in a paper written by Stella Steele, a BSA analyst and investigator on the “Disparities and Harshness of Youth Sentencing” touched on the subject of juvenile sentencing. She demonstrating the high rates of harsher punishments …show more content…

America has the most overpopulated prisons in the world and that is because we would rather put a person (or in this case child) in prison for life than address the root of the situation. Data analyzed by Ashley Nellis, Ph.D., Research Analyst with The Sentencing Project, a project that advocates for the reform of justice policies and tackles the disparities in race and gender in the criminal sphere, reported, “ Survey research in the past 10 years consistently shows a majority of the respondents to favor trying juveniles in adult court for serious felonies, with roughly 75% of the typical adults surveyed believing that violent juvenile offenders should be treated as adults” (Neils) this attitude towards juvenile criminals is insidious to America’s youth, and does nothing to lower the crime rate. The real question is not when should juveniles receive life sentences, but how can we prevent it? How can we reform the Juvenile Court System in a way that actually addresses the crimes (and the needs) of Juvenile criminals so that they can be punished, rehabilitated, and reintroduced to society to actually love their lives? It is not until we see the bigger picture that we can make this

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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.

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She focuses on the shift made my the United States Supreme Court in it’s approach to juvenile sentencing since 2005. According to the article, the ideological shift has occurred as a response to the increase in biological and sociological studies, which points towards a fundamental difference between juvenile offenders and adult offenders. The note presented within the article addresses how the new mandates by the Supreme Court have been implemented around the country, with a focus on statutory changes Illinois should making moving forward. The note argues for the removal of lengthy, consecutive term–of–years sentences, based on the idea that it does not give juvenile offender the “meaningful opportunity for release” required by Graham. Secondly, the note argues that Illinois should amend its sentencing statutes to requires judges to consider several factors, while on record as a sentencing hearing, before sentencing a juvenile homicide offender to life in prison.

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Juveniles who commit a major crime (think of murder) might be let out earlier than an adult who also commits because they are in the juvenile system. “Violent crime rates and juvenile crime have been in a steady decline over the past 20 years; however, reforms to restore the juvenile court system to its original vision have not been as swift” (Marsha Levick). This evidence is important because it shows the importance of the Criminal Justice System and how it protects the

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Teenagers in society today are committing crimes and thinking that they are just going to get a slap on the wrist but what they do not know is that these judges are now making examples out of them. The judges are now taking the crimes these juveniles are committing more serious than before and sometimes. Some judges are giving juveniles a break and giving them probation or letting them go on parole but putting stipulations on the probation like them must complete certain treatment programs, take certain class (anger management) to help them control their problems they are having (Young, Farrell & Taxman, 2013). Race plays a huge part in society when dealing with juveniles and them receiving a certain punishment (Morgan, 2014). For example,

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Although, no treatment program is 100 percent effective in future offending it has dramatically decreased recidivism. Studies have shown that those who were transferred to adult court were amongst those who contributed to higher recidivism rates. A study has shown that the juvenile system wasn’t effective at restraining repeating offenses and that adult imprisonment may have encouraged further violence(Fagan 39). Researchers found that juveniles who go to adult prison are more likely to be sexually assaulted than youths who are in juvenile detention centers,also more likely to be beaten by staff than youth in juvenile detention centers, additionally juveniles who go to adult prison are 4.6 times more likely to commit suicide in adult prison than the general youth population and likely to commit suicide than adolescents in juvenile detention centers during 1989 (Fagan 40). The continuous debate safeguarding children and protecting society through the juvenile court system has been going on for decades.

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There are approximately 1,200 people that are in jail for life for crimes they committed as children (“Sentenced Young”). More than 25% of those people “were convicted of felony murder or accomplice liability”, that is they were not the person who killed the individual and may have not even been there when the killing took place (“Facts and Inforgraphics”). The majority of the juveniles sentenced to live-without-parole come from states that’s the mandatory sentence regardless of their age or circumstances (“Facts and Inforgraphics”). California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania have the greater part of the juveniles sentenced to live-without-parole(“Facts and Inforgraphics”). 14 states have banned live-without-parole sentences

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