Arguments Against Juvenile Crimes

The District Attorney believed the potential punishment for the crime that was committed would not be substantial if Miller was charged as a juvenile. Miller was tried as an adult and was found guilty the punishment in the state of Alabama was death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. In Roper v Simmons the supreme court ruled it was unconstitutional to sentence an offender to death if the crime was committed while they were under the age of 18 years old and so by default Miller was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. The question in Miller’s defense was did the sentence of a 14 year old boy to life without the possibility of parole also violate the Eighth Amendment as a “cruel and unusual punishment”. Miller’s attorney’s argued life without the possibility of parole is a death sentence in itself is a death sentence which was rejected in Roper v Simmons.  The Attorney’s also argued that children are different from adults they lack the maturity and are more prone to outside influence by peers and have a greater chance than adults to change their behavior. The Supreme Court cited the precedent ruling of Roper v Simmons that life sentences without the possibility of parole is not deemed as “cruel and an

Roper vs Simmons was considered a landmark case in 2005 in which the Supreme court chose that it is unconstitutional to impose the death penalty for crimes that have been committed while under the age of 18. The decision was not unanimous, but was a very close 5-4 voting. The voting overturned a previous ruling that the death penalty cannot be enforced for those who are under the age of 16, but 16 and older can receive capital punishment.

The Supreme Court ruled that adolescent committed a murder cannot be sentenced to life in prison, because it violated the eighth amendment’s banning of cruel and unusual punishment. This ruling supports the claim that a punishment as such affects the juveniles that are imprisoned mentally and emotionally. Teenagers that committed a murder should not be sentenced with imprisonment to life because, this adolescent are able to be rehabilitated with proper family support.

Simmons (2005), the Court ruled “that those under the age of 18 could not be sentenced to the death penalty, holding that the death penalty constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the US Constitution when applied to juveniles (Liles & Moak, 2015, p. 78).” In Roper, the Court addressed issues of juvenile maturity, vulnerability, external influences, development, and culpability. In their holding, the Court cited inherent differences distinct to a juvenile, stating that the juvenile’s culpability must be considered in capital punishment decisions. The decision in Roper exclusively established differences between juveniles and adults for death penalty cases. At this time, juveniles could still be sentenced to life without parole.

These individual rights must be effectively balanced against these present and emerging community concerns: Widespread drug abuse among youth The threat of juvenile crime Urban gang violence High-technology, computer, and Internet crime (cybercrime) Terrorism and narcoterrorism Occupational and whitecollar crime

On February 2009 an 11 year old, Jordan Brown, murdered his soon to be stepmom and her fetus. Jordan was sentenced to an adult punishment, life in prison with no parole. In prison children collect bad habits and get negative affects. The minors mind is not fully developed therefore it is not entirely the minors fault. Juveniles should not be punished as adults for violent crimes.

Criminals are on foot everyday around the United States and other parts of the world. Whether they are young children, adults, seniors, or any kind of human being, crimes are committed everyday by people who look like a bad influence or others that look innocent walking down the streets who have never committed a crime before. Juveniles ages 7-15 should not be sentenced to life without parole for crimes they commit because it would not be fair for them to spend the rest of their lives in jail for committing a mistake. Reasons can be found on why juveniles should be left inside a cell and arguments can build up if people disagree with one another. Some adults commit crimes and are left with freedom after a satisfied amount of time locked up. Young teenagers can still be immature and do not have the mind to think like a regular human being. Young people also do not know what is wrong or right to do since they are not of legal age. Some teenagers are also not fully educated yet for they might have grown up without parents to yell at them to lead them through the right path. Most juveniles are barely in middle school and have not really learned anything about the real outside life yet. Juveniles that are sentenced for a reasonable amount of time can also be rehabilitated once they are out of prison so they can be leaded to the right path again without having to be locked up. Many young men are in rehabilitation centers because they disobey their parents or because they are drug

Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005), it was determined that the death penalty was a disparate punishment for juvenile inmates because of their immaturity, therefore it was banned in 12 states in general and 18 more states under juvenile circumstances. Roper left life without parole as the harshest punishment a juvenile could receive. In Graham v. Florida, 130 S. CT. 2011 (2010) it was ruled that if the crime was not homicide, then life without parole was not a valid punishment and thereof was banned from being used. As Graham said in the trail “Adolescence is marked by transient rashness, proclivity for risk, and inability to assess the consequences, all factors that should mitigate the punishment received by juvenile defendants.” Providing a further explanation to the decision in the ruling. Following the rulings in Roper and Graham , Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012) set out that judges were allowed to view and use the juvenile’s characteristics in order to give a fair and individualized sentencing. Miller changed sentencing laws in 28 states and brought up the controversy of whether or not it was retroactive leading to the most recent trial, Montgomery v. Louisiana 577 U.S. ___ (2016), in which the verdict was States can resolve the unconstitutionality of juvenile life without parole sentences by allowing parole hearings and not resentencing approximately 2,100 people whose life sentences were issued mandatorily. The case is further

Claudia, my prayers goes out to your son for having to face something such as an accident rather than intentional murder when there are juveniles in this world committing murders intentionally. I have worked in an adult correctional facility before, and I have witnessed the transfer of juveniles to the criminal justice system. You mention if it were not for your son's street smarts he problem would not have known how to survive in the adult facility. This is so true, I have also witnessed young children in the adult facility afraid to go to sleep out of fear that an adult may harm them while sleeping. The Court has recognized that juveniles lack maturity in judgment, have an underdeveloped sense of responsibility, are vulnerable to adverse

They’re not only being put away from others but they’re being placed in a dangerous environment. Children are defenseless compared to adult criminals. They can be sharing a cellblock with a rapist, pedophile, or a serial killer to where they wont be able to protect themselves from harm. In the article “Juvenile justice: Speakers at California parish strip away illusions of fairness of the U.S. system”, a speaker named Leslie Neale who filmed a documentary called “Juvies” experienced an emotional rollercoaster when seeing what these powerless kids go through. Neale said, "I've heard the fear in the voice of a young man telling me he was tied up to the bunk for fun by his adult cellmates, the fear as a kid describes listening to the cries of someone being raped, girls who take 'wives' so they can be taken care of with sundries such as shampoo and soap." No one ever thinks this far when placing a child in prison. They only think of locking them away incase they commit another crime. In prison, couple things that are rarely provided are rehabilitation programs and education. Children who want to get help are usually left hopeless. When juveniles are placed in adult prisons, they’re sent without knowing that there is no future for them. Neale stated, “I've talked many through suicidal thoughts, knowing that if I told the authorities the kids would be locked in solitary rather than spoken to with heart and love.” This shows that juveniles have to face their problems themselves and are led to desperate decisions because prisons don’t seem to care or show any sympathy towards them. In the article, “Juveniles don’t deserve life sentences” by Gail Garinger, it states “79 young adolescents have been sentenced to die in prison—a sentence not imposed on children anywhere else in the world.” The author also mentions that these children were

The case of Roper v. Simmons concluded with the court abolishing the juvenile death penalty, deeming it unconstitutional. This was abolished primarily due to the fact of the court deciding that juveniles are immature and they can’t be held fully responsible for their actions. Another case, Graham v. Florida concluded in the reduction of sentences for juveniles who were convicted of a crime that was deemed serious but involved no deaths. This is another showing of leniency toward juveniles due to their development. Lastly is the case of Miller v. Alabama. The two 14-year-old offenders in these cases were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. In neither case did the sentencing authority have any discretion to impose a different punishment. State law mandated that each juvenile die in prison disregarding all of the immature, teenage characteristics. Because the situation was handled in this way it prevented the jury from considering juvenile traits such as lessened culpability and the ability to change (Miller v. Alabama, 2012). This case resulted in the revision of laws condemning juveniles to life imprisonment without parole, deeming it unconstitutional to sentence

According to the website Lawyer Shop, “The most common juvenile crimes are made on account of theft, simple assault, drug abuse, etc. Juvenile delinquents are kids or teens from the ages of ten to seventeen who commit a crime. Teen crime has actually decreased by more than half from where it was ten years ago. Juvenile delinquents are not much of a problem as they were ten years ago. People who support the juvenile court system argue that juveniles should be sentenced on how severe the crime was; however, child advocates argue that juveniles should be given treatment. Therefore should children under the age of seventeen be given rehab on a crime committed or be punished on the cruelty of the crime?

In the 1990s, violent juvenile crime rates had reached record high levels throughout the United States. During these years, many Americans considered the criminal justice system too easy on violent juvenile offenders and demanded reform. Many states, including Florida began to focus efforts on juvenile crime. “Florida’s criminal sentencing laws and punishment policies from 1980 to 2000 reflected an ongoing, focused effort to deter serious crimes” (Taylor). Crimes were given stricter sentencing guidelines. Serious offenses carried mandatory minimum sentences. “When it comes to kids and crime, Florida is known and the toughest state in the nation” (Clary). More juveniles are prosecuted as adults than in all other states combined. Juveniles were at the hands of these harsher adult sentences.

Should juveniles get adult jail sentences? In today's society juvenile offenders are facing the law to full force, in two court systems. Not only are they tried in the juvenile justice system, but also charged as adults. The issue of charging juveniles as adults has stirred various views owing to the violent crimes committed by the young offenders. Politicians comment that the best solution is to lock up juvenile offenders for a long time and ignore rehabilitation. However, prior researches on the topic of juvenile delinquencies suggest that trying young offenders in the adult legal system and putting them in adult prisons will only lead to increased crime, higher costs, and increased violence(John & Jiangmin 568).

Would you consider a juvenile who commits a crime such as murder an adult? Over the years there has been many cases of juveniles committing crimes for possession of drugs, committing murder or other crimes but they fall under the name juveniles for a reason. The word Juvenile means a young person and if they’re being judged as adults why do we call them juveniles? A juveniles is only a person who is barely learning about live and they may commit the crime due to several reasons. A juvenile may commit a crime because they may have a broken home with bad influences, they still haven’t developed their brains to the fullest and because the juvenile has problems at school or work (if the juvenile works).