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Juvenile Justice Elena Kagan Case Analysis

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The Supreme Court of the United States of America in 2012 ruled that juveniles couldn’t be tried as juveniles and be sentenced to life without the possibility of bail, no matter how harsh the nature of the crime committed. Justice Elena Kagan argues that juveniles who commit crimes typically have a rough upbringing or unfortunate circumstances which cannot be controlled by the juvenile. She argues that if they are serving a life in prison without a chance of parole, it causes damage to them psychologically due to the lack of experiences. They will miss the most important moments in life that define who they are as an individual. Elena Kagan thought to believe that juveniles and their cases should be going to court with the consideration of age, immaturity, impetuosity, and behavioral circumstances. Approximately 2,500 juveniles have been charged with life in prison without the possibility of parole as adults before the Supreme Court ruling in 2012. Erik Jensen was tried and convicted as an adult when he and his friend, Nathan Ybanez, murdered Nathan’s mother. Around fourteen years of age both Nathan and Erik were charged with the murder of Nathan’s mom. Nathan was becoming a regular at Erik’s house when they astride to notice something was wrong with his household. Nathan stated to …show more content…

His case is different because he was being taken to the juvenile court. According to Dana Littlefield, “Juvenile Court judges make decisions — with input from prosecutors, defense lawyers, and Probation Department officials — based on the circumstances of each offense, the minor’s background and other variables.” This being said what makes this ten-year-old boys case any different from the three previous cases discussed above. In this case the boy, if guilty, would be committed to a state institution until the age of 25 due to him being charged as a juvenile in

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Many other teenagers have committed crimes. The most common are: theft/larceny, vandalism, alcohol offenses, etc. Depending on the severity of the crime committed by these youngsters they could be tried as an adult. If they are tried as an adult there has been cases where kids 16, and at the youngest recorded 14, years of age

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414 Words | 2 Pages

In July 2014, the United States Supreme Court issued that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for minors (seventeen and younger) convicted of homicide is unconstitutional in a five to four vote (2). The Court struck down statutes in twenty-nine states that provide a mandatory life-without-parole sentences for children (2). The lower courts are now instructed to conduct new sentence hearings where judges will have to take into account the individual characters, circumstances, age, and the events surrounding the crime (2). The court did not ban juvenile life without parole in all circumstances

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454 Words | 2 Pages

The article “ Juveniles deserve life sentence” by Gail Garinger is more affective than Jennifer Jenkins argument, for the reason that Ms. Garinger is a juvenile court judge who has withness many cases than jenkins. For that reason it make her a credible source to her own argument. Ms. Garinger and Ms. Jenkins do have some of the same features in their arguments. Even though both articles have different perspective of the topic. Garinger article states that “ As a former juvenile court judge , I have seen first hand…..”

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748 Words | 3 Pages

An estimated 26 percent of juveniles sentenced to prison for life were convicted of a felony murder, that is, for participating in a robbery or burglary during which a co-participant committed murder, in some cases without the knowledge of the teen. Fifty-nine percent of youth sentenced to Life without parole sentences are serving time for a first-time offense. In 26 states, the sentence of life without parole is mandatory for anyone, even a juvenile, who is found guilty of committing first degree murder. Lolita Barthel she was seventeen at the time when she robs Richard Menendez on August 18th, 1995. She was arrested on September 14th, 1995 just seven days after her birthday, she was a few weeks from turning 18 when she shot and killed the Temple Terrace floral supply salesman in August 1995, during a robbery as the victim begged for his life.

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820 Words | 4 Pages

“Cruel and Unusual: Sentencing 13- and 14-Year-Old Equal Justice Initiative Children to Die in Prison” by the Equal Justice Initiative (2007) gives a plethora of examples of children sentenced as adults and factors that influence crime at such a young age. Children need the chance to grow and be rehabilitated into

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995 Words | 4 Pages

Though the system will maintain rehab as a primary goal, it distinguishes itself from the criminal justice. With a number of exceptions, in most states delinquency is outlined because the commission of a criminal act by a baby World Health Organization was underneath the age of eighteen at the time; most states conjointly enable youth to stay underneath the oversight of the court till age twenty one. In part of jail, court judges draw from a spread of legal choices to satisfy each the protection wants of the general public and therefore the treatment wants of the youth. When the juvenile 's case gets to court, the case is adjudicated, and a disposition is handed down. Records from juvenile courts are sealed documents, in contrast to adult records that are accessible by anyone underneath the liberty of data Act.

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1528 Words | 7 Pages

Crimes are happening around us whether we pay attention to them or not. Those crimes as dangerous as murder are committed by all ages but should younger criminal in their juvenile age received the same punishment as older criminals. On June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles committed murder could not be sentenced to life in prison because it violates the Eighth Amendment.(On-Demand Writing Assignment Juvenile Justice) Advocates on the concurring side believes that mandatory life in prison is wrong and should be abolish. However, the dissenting side believe that keeping the there should be a life in prison punishment for juvenile who commit heinous crime regardless of their age.

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An age requirement of 14 which is in most states is fair compared to others seeing some states allow minors to be tried at just the age of ten to be tried in an adult court. Most states have laws to protect adolescents from being tried as an adult. The article Children in Adult Prison written by EJI says “The law protects children younger than 14 since their brains are still developing. The average age that allows a minor to be tried as an adult is not fair and should be changed so we don't have to fill up adult prisons with kids that may still be in elementary

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2451 Words | 10 Pages

The age of the offenders continually decreases, and the brutality of the crimes seems to be increasing. Cameron Williams, age sixteen, celebrated his 16th birthday behind bars (Khan). This young man had been convicted of shooting a police officer who was chasing him around after he had been pulled over by the officer. Williams previously had charges of robbery and assault, also. “Even though he is a minor, Williams was charged in an adult court because of his troublesome history and the "serious nature of the crime," the county attorney's office said.

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1162 Words | 5 Pages

In today’s society of the United States Supreme Court has verified that vicious crimes committed by juveniles should always be punished with a life sentence in prison because of the violation of the Eighth Amendment. The Eighth Amendment is stated,” Prohibiting the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment.” Life in prison without parole will cause juveniles to fail there own trust, immaturity, and will stay in prison with no help. Is it the juveniles fault of ending up in prison? Is it there daily life style at home?

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363 Words | 2 Pages

There are many children who recommit the crime after they are released from juvenile detention, and the ones released from jail are less likely to the crimes they did before. If the children are tried in adult court they are more likely to be sentenced to periods of incarceration. If a child is tried in adult court or in criminal court depends on what the crime was and how old the person offending was. The children who commit serious that aren’t tried in criminal court often reoffend and end up back where they were

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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.

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1392 Words | 6 Pages

When teen felons choose to act without thinking, they are putting other people’s lives at risk. They need to be charged as adults because the victims of the crimes will not be given the justice they deserve when they have to worry about that criminal harming them again. Although some people think that sending a juvenile through adult court gives them no hope, they should have given this a little thought before committing the crime. Teens need to think about the consequences and how their actions affect others before they act. When choosing between putting a violent adolescent in prison and taking the chance of letting them commit that crime again, it is most suitable to let the teen be tried as an adult and to place them in prison.

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1979 Words | 8 Pages

There are five ways in which a juvenile can be prosecuted in adult court. One way is through a judicial wavier, this is allowed in most states, where judges have the discretion to have a youth’s case tried in the adult criminal court. The second way is through statutory exclusion, twenty-nine states automatically require a juveniles’ case to be tried in the adult court based on the age of the youth and/or the alleged crime. The other three ways are allowed in fewer states and include direct file or “prosecutorial discretion” where juvenile court judges the decision to have a youth 's case tried in the adult criminal court. There also mandatory waivers in few states which require juvenile court judges to automatically transfer a youth 's case to adult criminal court for certain offenses or because of the age or prior record of the offender.

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760 Words | 4 Pages

Can you imagine waking up behind closed walls and bars? Waking up to see your inmate who is a 45-year-old bank robber and you are a 14-year-old minor who made a big mistake. This is why minors who have committed crimes should not be treated the same as adults. Some reasons are because the consequences given to minors in adult court would impact a minor’s life in a negative way. If a minor is tried through a juvenile court, they have a greater chance of rehabilitation.

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