Three Juvenile Justice Cases

The development of Juvenile Justice is was this week’s subject. The essay will talk about three cases that I believe were vital to developing the juvenile system into what it is today. Despite the system having much work to do to better itself, the fundamentals for it have been laid in place. Ropper vs. Simmons was a case about a seventeen year old juvenile who planned and committed capital murder. After he turned 18 he was sentenced to death. His direct appeal and petitions for state and federal post convictions were rejected. Prior to this incident, the United States of America, which allegedly was or is the most compassionate country that defends human rights, was the only Western nation that still had the death penalty for young offenders. With this case they stated that the eighth amendment prohibits the execution of a mentally retarded person. Simmons filed a new petition for the state …show more content…
Florida this case was in 2010 the supreme court sentence a juvenile to life without the possibility of parole for a non-homicidal crime is in violation of the eighth amendment. Graham was arrested after he tried to do a robbery at a diner in Florida. The diner supervisor was badly wounded as a result of the robbery. Graham later committed a residence assault and robbery with a pistol thus breaching his probation. The court of law condemned Graham to lifetime in the penitentiary with no the option of parole. Graham and his lawyers tried to petitioned the court under the premise that it was considered to cruel and unusual punishment, and thus a violation of the 8th amendment, In the U.S. 37 states and the district of Columbia still allow a juvenile to be sentenced to life for committing a non-homicidal crime. A law passed by the Florida senate in 2014 states that a juvenile convicted of murder may only be sentenced to life in prison after a mandatory hearing at which his or her age and circumstances are