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Summary Of Greg Ousley Is Sorry For Killing His Parents Is That Enough

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America has always been strict with the notion that children are to be treated as such. Legal curfews, age restrictions, and parental controls on televisions are only some examples of how the United States makes one thing very clear: children and adults are not the same. Interestingly enough, the only time that changes is with crime; when the actions of one person negatively affect another. In this case, it is heinous crime, the kind to allow life without parole as an option in conviction. This statement is strongly against such an idea. Juveniles should not be given life in prison because their brains are underdeveloped, they are inexperienced and deserve a chance at rejoining society. It goes without saying that the brains of minors are …show more content…

As for why this is can be explained simply: people change. With time, meditation, and reflection, it is completely possible--though not always a guarantee--for someone to change from how they were before. It is for this reason that life for convicted juveniles is a very bad idea, especially when considering that the type of change that occurs within someone can be heavily influenced by environment. Scott Anderson, author of the article “Greg Ousley Is Sorry for Killing His Parents. Is That Enough?”, agrees with this claim. He explains how, “for the long-term prisoner, hope is a tricky property, something that needs to be constantly monitored and managed” (Anderson). The focus of his article, Greg Ousley, ended up describing the reason why he found himself turning to murder. He said how, “...basically, it all comes down to one thing: acceptance. In my case, it was not being accepted by my parents for trying to be myself” (Anderson). Regardless of who does the talking, the point is that people change and learn from their mistakes; and while some minors may have committed bigger, badder crimes than other does not mean they should not deserve a second chance at …show more content…

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”. Minors need guidance during such a delicate time, and because of the constant change in brain chemistry, it is no surprise that some act out more than others. Locking them away in small rooms for society to ignore--not help--them fixes

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Noted that there is no way to predict or ultimately guarantee that 100% of juveniles sent to prison are new and refined citizens of society by the time that they are released. But the states should not forbid someone, let alone a teenager, the chance to prove that they can be a greater individual for themselves and for the public. This also gives the public the ability to not only heal but to possibly forgive the juvenile for the crimes that they have committed and accept them back into their community. To support this the Court claims that when an individual, especially a teenager, receives a sentence of life without parole, it numbs their humanity. It diminishes the chance for the youth to reform in any positive way because they lack the hope to continue with their lives.

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“Thump! The jury finds you guilty! Three life sentences without parole!” the young boys and girls that hear this sentence generally aren’t considered the best of kids, however locking away a juvenile for life takes much more thought than it takes to address this sentence to a legal adult. In “Locked Away Forever” by Patricia Smith the question is attempted to be answered, which is should juveniles receive life sentences without chance of parole?

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Proponents say that people should give them a second chance through rehabilitation. Juveniles are still kids so we should also consider that they are still developing and vulnerable. They commit mistakes and we shouldn’t ruin their lives because of that. We should help them become a better person parallel to what happen with Greg Ousley. Turn them into ideal citizens to show people they can change.

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Juveniles that go through the rehabilitation process will be able to have a clean record after they reach 18, whereas the exact opposite if they went through the adult justice system. Stevenson feels that, “We’ve become so fearful and vengeful that we’ve thrown away children, discarded the disabled, and sanctioned the imprisonment of the sick and the weak—not because they are a threat to public safety or beyond rehabilitation but because we think it makes us seem tough, less broken.” (289) This quote represents the treatment towards juveniles in prison and how the potential of these children is wasted. The goal of rehabilitation is to help the youth understand the consequences of their actions and learn how to make better choices in the

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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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The main argument expressed in the article "Greg Ousley is Sorry for Killing His Parents. is that Enough?" is that juveniles/kids should not be sentenced to prison for long term, even if they commit severe crimes, and they have the ability to rehabilitate themselves, so they should not serve this long term sentences when they are showing improvement. An example that gives the author is the case of Greg Ousley, a teen who killed his parents at the age of 14, and that now with a age of 33 years he still serving the 60 years sentence. The author Scott Anderson interviewed Greg during a few sessions. When Anderson interviewed Greg, he saw a completely mature man with wishes to work with young people, to teach them what can go wrong by using his life as an

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First, Jennifer starts her paragraph with a quote by “James Q. Wilson, Harvard Professor and Crime Expert”(1) with the quote stating that some people will be good and some people will be bad, which is a fair and logical assumption. In any case, this quote is very broad and does not say if there is a way to change a person from horrific to terrific and vice versa, the person who she quoted is also not an expert in juvenile crime either, only in general crime, which differ from each other. Jennifer later in the article claims, “The nation is NOT sentencing children to die in a prison. ”(11) and “a life sentence still allows a great deal of good living to be done.”(12).

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In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that it is immoral to give juveniles life sentences, even if they commit a crime as serious as murder, because it is a cruel and unusual punishment. This has been an issue in America as teenagers are often treated as adults in court due to a belief that their crimes warrant a harsh punishment. Many believe that these kids should not be given such major sentences because they are still immature and do not have the self control that adults do. I agree that juveniles do not deserve life sentences because they put less thought and planning into these crimes and they often are less malicious than adults. The article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” explains that the teenagers lose brain tissue that is responsible for self control and impulses (Thompson 7).

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Children can be easily manipulated and are easily swayed. Justice Kennedy said, juveniles are “immature, susceptible to peer pressure and capable of change”. America needs to help the youth change and grow, not lock them up and do not provide the help they need. Juveniles are capable of change and should be given the help they need. The youth should not be tried as adults because they need help, not put into correctional

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1315 Words | 6 Pages

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.

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1303 Words | 6 Pages

Minors are often immature when they commit horrendous crimes. Furthermore, they don't have an appropriate level of psychological understanding to make sound decisions. Trying juveniles as adults is wrong because juveniles are not mentally stable enough to understand that the decisions that they make can negatively impact their future, trying minors as adults hinders their growth as individuals and harms their productivity in the long run. Instead of juveniles being sentenced as adults for their criminal offenses, they should be obligated to participate in intervention programs. Juveniles don't have a fully developed mental stability to make sound decisions.

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In the United States, there has been a lot of juveniles that have been subjected in jail with life without parole. In the United States there is a total amount of 200,000 juveniles that enter the adult criminal-justice system every year. Some family members of the juveniles that are in prison find that leaving them in jail for life with parole is a bad idea. In my opinion I think that the juveniles should have subjected to life without parole so they wouldn’t be in the streets causing more chaos or just serious problems in general. In Pennsylvania, there is a lower limit for the age someone can be charged as an adult with adult homicide.

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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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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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The United states have a restriction of the juvenile sentencing when they accused of crime under the judicial system, which means they were sheltered, and It is unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life in prison without parole, unless they have committed a very serious crime. I think that the juvenile sentence restriction did just about right, the restriction covered pretty reasonable age range, under 18, just before turning into a adult, and reasonable rules, “may not sentenced to life in prison without parole.”. It created to give the children one more chance, because they were still shapeable than a adult who has already developed their character, they deserve a chance because even though the laws are cruel but we have humanity, and

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