Pros And Cons Of Juvenile Offenders In Prisons

Juvenile offenders should not be convicted to life sentences because spending life in prison is only doing more harm to the person’s body and brain when they can be helped with rehab and other methods. Firstly, In 2012 multiple Juveniles serving life sentences without parole, were given hope of possibly being released due to the violation of the 8th amendment. This is because the life sentences were seen as cruel punishments towards the convicts. “The court ruled that laws requiring youths convicted of murder to be sentenced to die in prison violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment” (Source #3). A lot of people agree with this due to the fact that people’s body’s and brains develop up until 25 years old and can be helped if given the chance.

If sentenced to life in prison that kid isn’t getting help but instead getting worse from the harshness of prison. Prisons cannot offer the amount of help and care juvenile centers do, therefore instead of getting help and treatment, those criminals sit in violent and alienated areas causing their brain and thoughts to worsen. “courts were staffed by judges and prosecutors who were trained to use methods such as probation, restitution to victims, and occasionally incarceration to rehabilitate young people in trouble” (Source #4). These courts and their methods would inevitably help those juveniles unlike prison and its system. Secondly, some juveniles deserve life sentences. If the crime is bad enough or harsh enough I think it is ok to give life sentences. The only thing about this is people under the age of 25 are still developing meaning those juveniles can change for the better if given the chance, which is why I believe it is only ok to sentence life in jail if given the chance for parole. “The teenage