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The Importance Of Heinous Crimes

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The 2012 ruling in Miller v. Alabama required the court to consider the circumstances of each juvenile charged with heinous crimes before sentencing life in prison without parole. The Supreme Court considered mandatory juvenile life without parole sentencing as unconstitutional because it violates the Eighth Amendment. However, with the 2012 ruling in place, many proponents such as victims of juvenile crimes believe that juveniles should be sentenced to life in prison. While juveniles who commit heinous crimes should not go unpunished, they do not deserve life sentences like an adult. First of all, juveniles should not be sentenced with life in prison like adults because scientific studies confirm a strong difference between an adolescent …show more content…

In “On Punishment and Teen Killers”, by Jennifer Jenkins, she reveals how she was a victim of a teen murderer and believes that actual science supporting teenage brains does not negate criminal culpability. She argues, “If brain development were the reason, then teens would kill at roughly the same rates all over the world”, (Par 6). Jenkins believes that supporting evidence on teenage brains does not serve as an excuse to not sentence juveniles to life without parole. She also believes that some teens will never change and find redemption for their actions. Her point is valid in that juveniles cannot be excused for their crimes, however Jenkins lacks the insight that much like how the brain changes through age, a teenager can transition from immaturity to maturity. Furthermore, if sentencing most juvenile to life sentences, it prevents them from learning their mistakes. For example, Greg Ousley during his adult years expressed his regret in killing his parents, and hopes to reconcile with his family members. Ousley comes to a realization, “ what he interpreted in his father as disinterest, even disgust, more likely stemmed from a paralyzing self-consciousness” (Par. 86). Ousley’s realization that his parent’s issues contributed to their lack of understanding to him is a comparable difference in his understanding of his parents when he was a teenager. It provides how even a juvenile who committed murder is able to mature and finding redemption by gain, thus proving that Jenkin’s belief in some teenage murders will never change. Even though teenage murder cannot go unpunished, it does not mean they should be sentenced to life in

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In “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains,” Paul Thompson--a neuroscientist at UCLA--argues that minors should not be sentenced as adults because their brains are not the same as adults’ brains. Even though Thompson believes that minors should be held accountable for their crimes, he presents evidence from recent studies to explain the differences between the brains of minors and adults. It is not surprising that Thompson uses logical evidence to defend his position, given that he is a scientist. However, Thompson frequently uses emotional persuasion--or pathos--to convince his readers that sentencing minors as adults is both unjust and uninformed. Through his use of structure and emotionally charged language, Thompson attempts to convince readers

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It plays a key role because the fate of these once teenagers’ lives, was in the hands of a jury and a judge. Many people find this way of punishment unfair. How can you sentence someone who is just entering middle school to life in prison?

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If an adolescent were to commit a horrendous crime such as murder, should they be convicted as guilty or not? Kids at the age 12 should realize what is right from wrong. They obliviously know that if they were to be in a position where they were killing another human, that is just a murderous crime and should be guilty for their actions. In the book Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, a boy named Jack had committed two murders on the island where everyone was stranded. Some people agree that if adolescents were to do something irresponsible and regretful it's because “their brains just haven’t physically matured yet.

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The Roper Court identified three general differences between juveniles and adults that justify the conclusion that juveniles are less culpable for their criminal behavior, and therefore undeserving of the harsh penalties we reserve for adults. First,

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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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In the article “On Punishment and Teen Killers” published by the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange on Aug 2,2011 the author, Jennifer Jenkins, points out how teen killers should be tried as adults for crimes committed at an adult level. Jenkins states that “... I understand how hard it is to accept the reality that a 16 or 17 year old is capable of forming such requisite criminal intent.” If a the teen intended to kill someone then they should be locked up, but if that was not the intention then they should get the help necessary instead of being locked

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What if your loved one was savagely killed by a teenager with no remorse? Juveniles should be convicted as adults for ferocious crimes because even though they are “kids” they kill innocent people and should get punished for the crime they committed. Teenagers commit gruesome crimes like murder and knowing what they are makes the situation far worse. In the article “Kids are Kids-Until They Commit Crimes” the author Jennifer Jenkins talks about the teenagers that committed gory murders against innocent people that didn’t deserve to die like a road animal. For example, a 13 year old shot to death an english teacher.

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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

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But for those most horrendous crimes like murder, the scientific “mumbo jumbo” goes out the window. When kids kill, society wants retribution. adult retribution. When it comes to the juvenile system, we should address the inconsistency of how it borders on hypocrisy. If we agree that the juvenile mind is less culpable, we should treat it that way, without exception.

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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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Imagine being a parent with a thirteen year old son being charged as an adult with a life sentence without parole. Knowing that they will have no chance for rehabilitation. In some cases a lot of these individuals we are so quick to call adults once they take a life are, repenting for their sins towards the crimes they committed. When a teen commits a crime to this stance without a second thought or even with the thought in mind they are still not capable to understand the situation. To comprehend the fact that you took another life doesn’t really come to light till your mind is at a point where you see it as what it is death.

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With this being said, one issue that needs to be addressed in our justice system is developmental immaturity. In the film “Young Kids, Hard Times”, there was a debate on whether Paul Gingerich, a 12-year old boy, should be transferred from a juvenile prison to adult prison after being an accomplice to the murder of Colt Lundy’s stepfather. The fact that the youths do not have the same rights as adults should be an indicator of why we should treat kids differently. The juvenile justice system hold the presumption that their offender is immature, therefore, they focus on having a rehabilitation goal and use a non-adversarial approach (Cauffman, 2018). In the juvenile court, immaturity refers to the incomplete development, inexperienced judgment and “character still maturating” (Steingberg &

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In the article “On Punishment and Teen Killers” by Jennifer Jenkins the author explains the murder of her younger sister and how “She begged for the life of her unborn child as he shot her.” The killer of her sister showed no remorse while committing murder and that is something seen in psychopathic killers, whom never change their ways. Calling a child a psychopath is a giant claim that serves to show how a child that has already committed a crime this severe is not likely to change. In the same article Jenkins goes on to explain how she says “As a high school teacher, I have worked lovingly with teens all my life and I understand how hard it is to accept the reality that a 16 or 17 year old is capable of forming such requisite criminal intent.” Jenkins has worked with and knows that even they are capable of committing these harsh crimes at their age.

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In the article “On Punishment and Teen Killers” Jenkins states how a little boy got into some trouble and his parents would go and save him. For example,In paragraph 7 Jenkins states this “He came from privilege. Whenever he got in trouble, his parents fixed it. After a series of other crimes”.

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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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