An estimated 250,000 youth are tried, sentenced, or incarcerated every year across the United States (campaign for youth justice). There is large controversy regarding whether or not children and young adults should be required to be sentenced as adults, regardless of their age and circumstance. This is believed to be the most logical way of approaching this matter because every case should undergo the same consequences despite the criminal’s circumstances. An opposing view would argue that it is necessary to take into consideration the situation of each criminal case before deciding on the punishment. They would also claim that children specifically, should be given another chance due to their lack of maturity.…
Criminal Justice Frontline’s video, “Second Chance Kids,” takes its viewers through a controversial topic: life in prison for those who committed crimes as teens. Before the mid 2000s, teenagers who murdered someone get sentenced to life without parole. The arguments that teenagers grow up and change convinced courts to reconsider giving parole to those who were convicted for their crimes made as a teen. In one case, Anthony Rolon was 17 years old when he committed a crime. He was helping his father with selling drugs but a party next doors got really loud.…
Children committing heinous crimes are not a rare occurrence anymore; the upsetting reality requires new tactics for dealing with young juveniles. Some Americans believe children should be tried as adults, yet others feel that they are too young to understand their wrong doings. In most conditions minors are quickly told they are too young or too old for something, however before being sent to an adult facility we need to contemplate all aspects of the case in order to decided whether or not being tried as an adult is necessary. Regardless of the crime, some people feel that an adult facility is not a suitable environment for children to serve their sentences.…
Juveniles should not be sentenced to life without parole for first degree murder. We don’t treat kids as adults in society, so why should we punish them as adults. The document video Lost for Life: 2014 tells us stories of kids who are in the juvenile system for mistakes that they deeply regret. Brian and Torey killed a girl because Brian wanted to be known as something and Torey wanted his fantasy of Scream to come to life.…
One of the reasons juveniles should not receive life sentences without parole is because juvenile brains are not fully developed until adulthood. According to Paul Thompson a USC neurologist researcher, “In terms of cognitive development, as research on the human brain [of juveniles] is far from adulthood” (Thompson). Adults need to understand that juveniles are still juveniles. When juveniles are charged with a heinous crime, like murder, they need to not overlook the fact that a juveniles brain is undeveloped.…
While the “criminal is a child” approach to the juvenile justice system is appealing due to its forgiving nature and emphasis on rehabilitation rather than punishment, there are some cases in which this decision is not so cut-and-dry. One of these instances of a legal “gray area” is the case of Marin Sinzer, who was charged for the murder of Tammy Shevin, 25 years after the crime was committed. The now 38 year old is petitioning to be tried as a juvenile, since he was only 13 at the time of the crime, a year younger than the waiver age at the time. While many proponents of the “criminal is a child” approach take that stance because of the physical and psychological dangers posed to juveniles who are placed in adult prisons, in this unique…
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)…
Juveniles are not mentally capable to understand the crime they commit like an adult is, thus they should not be tried as an adult. A child, just like any living thing, goes through developmental stages. Throughout their growth periods, juveniles learn new skills and so do their brains. In a study, “Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis of New York University led comprehensive diagnostic evaluations of 14 juveniles on death row (at that time, 40 percent) in four states. She found that nine had major neuropsychological disorders and seven had psychotic disorders since early childhood” (Ortiz).…
Others may argue that it’s not right because there are laws that prohibit youngsters to complete certain actions like smoking, drinking, or going to R movies, these actions don’t seem to affect other it might affect them, however, once they commit a horrifying crime they are being tried as adults. In addition, Lundstrom argues that “Today we are witness to criminal defendants facing a life sentence without parole…” (Lundstrom, 10). Lundstrom continues by stating that juveniles cannot shave and still play with toys also they act scenes from their favorite T.V. shows. Further information that researchers have studies on teen brains with technology that maps the patterns of brain growth in children and teenagers, has given information that indicate that teenagers are having a massive loss of brain tissue this scientific evidence has also sparked the opponents, and argue that this evidence is why juveniles should not be facing life sentence in prison without parole.…
This is not to argue about the pros and cons of the death penalty and juveniles, but to give data it can inform the controversial argument to focus on the Death Penalty and Juveniles. This is important to the general area under study because it will give a clearer view on the opinions of each person on the death penalty and juveniles. The intent is to provide details of death penalty and juveniles, whereas to give an understanding of what causes these young offenders to commit a crime and why the law agrees with the death penalty on juveniles with no difference from the adults. Additional studies show the death penalty used with juveniles may perhaps appear to be civilized or not. Sentencing a juvenile to death could lead to asking questions for…
They have the same choice in making the decision to commit the crime so why would they not get the same amount of time as an adult? If they make adult decisions then they should get the adult consequences. There will always be someone bias in the jury but as they do get convicted of the crime, juveniles still get less time than adults. When the crime is murder, however, juveniles do get sentenced to life without parole depending on the extent. “Difference in responsibility measures indicated that those in the twenty five year old group were significantly more inclined to take responsibility for their own actions and view behaviors in long term” (Bryan-Hancock and Casey 66).…
Allowing teenagers to receive the harshest sentence is not shared among all states. For, juveniles a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole is unconstitutional. The United States stands on sentences that give juveniles life without parole. There are about two thousand juveniles without parole given the chance, to have their case heard in Supreme Court decisions. But, there are nineteen states that have banned possibility of parole for juveniles.…
It is claimed by the Supreme Court in Pequenza’s documentary 15 to Life that, “kids are different” (Pequenza). Juveniles are different then adults their brain is not as mature as a adults brain is hence why the opposition's argument/ ideal is disagreeable. Juveniles should receive mandatory life sentences because it is wrong and cruel for someone so young to receive a punishment so drastic. If a juvenile stole from a store for a candy bar because their family had no money for food. Does that child deserve to spend life in prison?…
Juveniles should not be tried as adults for it is wrong to hold adolescents, under the legal age, to adult standards. If children do not even receive the same rights as adults in the first place, it makes no sense to try them in adult court. These juveniles should have the opportunity to be rehabilitated in a positive manner, for they tend to come from troubled households and violent neighborhoods. In over half of the cases these troubled kids don’t know any different way than a life of crime when surrounded by both social and environmental factors that influence their delinquent actions. One must commemorate that juveniles are mentally underdeveloped, and still have time to innovate if their issues are dealt with precisely and accurately.…
The decision of juveniles being tried as adults in the world of criminal justice has usually been an object of controversy. Some agree that an adolescent who commits a serious crime like murder deserves to be penalized exactly like an adult; while others declare that a minor should not face the same punishment as an adult. However, no matter how severe or appalling a crime may be, juveniles should not be tried as adults; the reason being that everyone should be granted the chance to learn from their mistakes. Juveniles should not be punished as adults, simply because they biologically distinct from adults. Teenagers are the midsection between children and adults.…