Life Sentence

Improved Essays
No Child Should Have a Life Sentence in Prison 14-year-old Kenneth Young received four life sentences in prison. He was convinced and forced to participate in assisting a 24-year-old male rob a convenience store. Kenneth was not a primary participant in this doing; he was only the second man and wasn’t in contact with victims or even within the general area of where the money was. He was the one to take care of getting the tape out of the recorder. Kenneth was only 14-years-old, meaning he was a minor when this crime took place. This adult to do this with him by threatening Kenneth had manipulated him. Minors especially are easily manipulative because they follow others. The court systems punish minors/kids much harsher than adults. Kenneth …show more content…
According to Randy Otto, a Criminal Psychologist states that adolescents are very different because of their “susceptibility to persuasion and their natural instincts to follow others”. Another reason why they are different is because they take less of a concern, it’s harder for them to see another person’s point of viewed, and they have a harder time wrapping their head around the consequences that are at hand (Randy Otto). This evidence is proven and should be used in the court system to show sympathy and understanding of why the teenager or minor was involved if persuasion was used. 70% of children that have life sentences in prison have committed their crimes with an adult. This represents a large majority of the minors that commit crimes are encouraged and persuaded into thinking that it is acceptable to do such a thing by other adults. Since adolescents are the easiest to persuade into doing bad things, they are punished harsher than adults. It’s a sort of scare tactic but it’s victimizing all children who have been convicted for a crime. The court system are assigning or giving children harsher penalties due to their age. Adults may receive only one life sentence without parole, where on the other hand a minor may receive up to four life sentences. In the documentary (Children in Prison for Life Sentence) Kenneth Young was 14 when he was convicted and received four life sentences. While the brains of the operation, a 24 year-old black male was only sentenced for only a single life sentence. Yes both roughly the same length but it’s apparent that the adolescents are treated unfairly in the court systems. The worst part of the injustice system is that one of the biggest, most biased factors that play a role in deciding the final discipline is

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