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Mandatory Life Sentences For Juveniles Essay

1279 Words6 Pages

Supreme Court justices want to punish juveniles that commit heinous crimes with mandatory life sentences. Something that plays into all this is the eighth amendment stating that there shall be no cruel or unusual punishments for crimes. This raises the question of whether or not we should allow juveniles to receive life sentences no matter what their crime is but no matter what we think or try kids are still going to commit crimes. However, the judicial system can still treat them like children by keeping the current ruling that does not allow mandatory life sentences for juveniles who commit heinous crimes. No matter how we view the facts one thing is for sure which is that juveniles are still developing and are different from adults, …show more content…

Fundamentally all these kids just want to play and hang out with friends whether it be playing video games or playing with their toy trains and cars. Mr. Garinger that “they are less mature, more vulnerable to peer pressure, cannot escape from dangerous environments, and their characters are still in formation” (Garinger 1). In other words kids are extremely immature, susceptible and malleable. Garinger is trying to say that these kids are still young and immature, they are still growing up and learning right from wrong which is also subjective depending on the parents and culture in which the child grows up in. It is fairly perplexing to think that for the people under eighteen are treated like children for the fact that they “[can not] smoke, or drink, or go to R movies without our OK... they [do not] vote... they have curfews…. [and we] we fret over their Internet access and fuss about driving privileges”, yet some people still want to treat these children as adults for one act that they made (Lundstrom 1). If we want to treat them like children for everything we might as well treat them like children when it comes to trying them for their crimes. The bottom line is that these are kids not adults thus we cannot hold them to the same

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The article goes on to say that over 3,000 people are in prison for a crime they committed as a minor. They say it is done because they are not allowed to give minors the death penalty any longer. They say that for a minor life in prison is the equivalent to the death penalty. It is then brought about that some of these children are under the of 13. The author of the goes on to say that the courts realize that the children doing these crimes are not fully mature and understanding of their crime.

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Simmons effectively affects the juvenile population and forbids state and federal governments from sentencing any offender who commits a crime under the age of eighteen to death. The death penalty in the case of juveniles is considered unconstitutional as it violates the Eight Amendment’s ban on cruel or unusual punishment (Gretey 565). This decision was arrived at due to scientific evidence that psychologically differentiates between juveniles and adults. Major differences between the age groups affirm that a minor should not be held to the same standards as an adult regarding punishment for crimes. The court concluded that the three crucial differences in maturity, predisposition to influences, and character traits between adults and children affect their accountability for crimes (O’Neill

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In an article about juvenile justice, it states, “Legislators have finally started to realize that treating juveniles just like adults does more harm than good,” says David DeMatteo, a professor of law at Drexel University in Philadelphia,” (“Juvenile Justice”). This supports Bryan’s claim of how juveniles were misunderstood in the past. This misunderstanding had caused most juveniles to end up in adult jails where they were mistreated and suffered from assault and abuse. Stevenson also stated that, “Many states had changed their laws to make it easier to prosecute children... Alabama had more juveniles sentenced to death per capita than any other state or any other country in the world,” (Stevenson, 93).

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This statement is definitely uncomfortable with it, and the reason why is simple. Minors are only starting out in life, and while there is no excuse for crime, any juvenile who commits such heinous acts must have endured something to justify it in their eyes. Perhaps if society would take the time to help such troubled minors instead of locking them in rooms forever, they would begin to change. After all, the adolescent period is an extremely point in time developmentally speaking. According to an article by The Nation, “...parts of the brain that drive emotional reactions, impulses and reactivity to peers develop before those that control impulses and imagine consequences...which enable adults to resist pressures”.

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A kid is a kid until the age of eighteen, then in the eyes of the law they are legally an adult. So why do the court systems trial a juvenile as an adult at the age of thirteen or fourteen? Mistakes are made and when the courts put kids behind bars for a life sentence and are not giving them the chance to change. To these juveniles, being sentenced to life is a slap in the face says to them that they will never have the chance of fixing or learning from that mistake that they have made. That they have to face a life sentence and have that burden on them forever.

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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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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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Those are some reason for why a juvenile are being tried as an adult.

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The Eighth Amendment states that punishments should be fair and cannot be cruel. In the summer of 2012, Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who have committed murder cannot be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole because of violation of the Eighth Amendment. However, young adults or juveniles should be given life without parole when committing a serious crime. If teens can commit crimes knowing there will be consequences then they should be prepared to face them. Many juveniles will fight against receiving jail time by saying, they are depressed, or have not reached a full level of maturation.

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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.

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1392 Words | 6 Pages

When people commit crimes, there should be disciplined no matter what. Juveniles need to learn that their behaviors have consequences. Why should kids be given any less of a punishment for committing the same crime? According to one author, “Taking a life is murder regardless of the age of the offender, and the penalties to be imposed must not discriminate. After all, the victim’s life will never be returned, and the family will permanently lose their loved one” (“7 Top Pros and Cons of Juveniles Being Tried As Adults”).

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Children as young as 14 can be tried as an adult for a harsh crime . If a young adult commits a crime they should be tried as an adult

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These people committed a crime, and its not fair that they get away with less of a punishment just because they are younger. What I feel about this situation is, if you commit the same crime, you should have to pay the same price. Everyone in this world is equal, no matter your age. We should all be treated as such, especially when it comes to breaking the law. Children shouldn’t be treated special over everyone else for doing something wrong.

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In our society, crimes are being committed not only by adults but by juveniles as well. By law as soon as a person turns 18 they are considered to be an adult. So what if an adult and a juvenile were to commit the same crime yet were sentenced differently simply based on the fact that one is a child and one is an adult? Juveniles are committing violent crimes just as adults and should be given the equal treatment and sentencing as adults receive. Juveniles aren’t completely ignorant as everyone seems to think.

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But this actually disproves juvenile advocates reliance on the “underdeveloped brain” argument. If brain development were the reason, then teens would kill at roughly the same rates all over the world(Jenkins 91). This is something that doesn’t happens, you won’t be seeing teens around the world murdering people. Brain development is just something people don’t understand how it really works and use this argument to try to lower criminals culpability.

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