“We will be in recess while the jury deliberates, and then we’ll reconvene for the verdict,” Judge Salenger informed the people in the courtroom before turning to step down from his bench. And, with those words, here I wait. In just a short while I will find out if I’ll be spending the rest of my life in prison, or the even more likely Mills County Psychiatric Center. For me, the death penalty been taken off the table on account that I’m only seventeen. My lawyer, Abraham Shultz, had pushed hard for juvenile status, but the judge had denied it. I don’t think it would have helped much anyways. They never let people like me back out on the streets. Not after what I have done. I guess it all started about three years ago. I was just beginning my freshman year of high school. My classmates during this time were all beginning to divide themselves up into different social groups and cliques consisting of the cool kids and the rest of the losers. It was obvious right then that what group you landed in would ultimately decide your fate over the next four years. Well, I guess you’ve probably already figured out which side of the fence I was on, huh? I never even really stood a chance from the get go. I had never been good at sports or could honestly say I even ever …show more content…
There came the night that I had gotten even with them, I remember it vividly. To the people who know me they say it was the day I had finally snapped. “Snapped” to me that’s a funny word, like I’m broken somehow. The truth is, I never snapped at all. I had wanted and had planned my revenge on Michael Stanley, Erik Johnson, and all the rest of them pricks who tormented me more than anything else in this world. Revenge on anyone who had ever treated me like I wasn’t human, like I was just some animal to kick and spit upon, they were all fair game in my book. I was going to make sure they all
The groups that are formed as adolescents often determine group associations as adults and define an individual within their social group that will either set them with or against other groups. This is described in an article on social groupings by Colin Allen, which mentions that our social associations as adolescents are strong indicators to future patterns of social norms as adults. Therefore, the group of students in the movie, The Breakfast Club, can also be extrapolated to adult group dynamics. However, the varying social norms between groups can present conflicts when adults are required to function within a very diverse group of individuals. In The Breakfast Club, the Jock, Geek, Prom Queen, Delinquent, and the Freak groups are brought together initially through an autocratic or directive leadership role, used to bring the group together in order to proceed to the next phase of group development. This stage is particularly important within a group of
Specific Purpose: To inform and persuade the public of the inefficiency of the justice and prison system, and to offer insight and methods to both reduce the finical burden of this institution on the state and inmate recidivism while simultaneously reviving our communities left ruined by this often racist and unfair institution.
Good morning everyone. Welcome to Cool Cats Cross Class Crime News. I’m Maggie Lin and I will be talking to you about a serial killer homicide case that happened in Florida two month ago. Imagine this, what if a serial killer has been going around your neighborhood and started to kill your neighbors with no motivation for doing so, would you feel safe and protected? Well, these civilians in a certain neighborhood felt unprotected and afraid when they heard the news that someone had been shot and killed in their neighborhood. There were four victims total that had been shot to death by a serial killer in Tampa, Florida in a small neighborhood called Seminole Heights. I am informing you of this important new because knowing that a serial killer is on the loose is a good knowledge to know when you are alone outside and you probably will be cautious of your surroundings. Also, the homicide rate alone in the United States has increased 4% more this year compared to last year. The first killing happened on October 9 where the victim, Benjamin Mitchell, 22 got shot and killed at his front of his house. Then two days later, on October 11, Monica Hoffa, 32 was shot to death and her body was found on October 13 when a city worker found her at a parking lot just half a mile away from the first killing. Eight days later, October 19, Anthony Naiboa, 20 just graduated high school, accidentally got on the wrong bus and took a detour to death in Seminole Height and then was shot and killed.
As in any controversial issue, there are people that support the juvenile death penalty. One of the reasons they are pro death is because it could possibly discourage other juveniles from committing crimes (“Death Penalty for Juveniles Pros and Cons” 3). The idea is that if other juveniles have the knowledge that they could possibly be sentenced to death for committing a very serious crime, then it might stop the others from actually committing a serious crime (3). Between the years 1642 to 2000, there have been around 361 people sentenced and killed because of the crimes that they have committed when they
Gail Garinger, the author of “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences,” argues that children should not be struck down for life because they commit the most vile and horrible crimes imaginable, based on the sole fact that they are still adolescents, and that they should be given the chance for parole and rehabilitation because they are not fully developed; therefore, in her article she shows exceptionally strong ethos to support her claim. Garinger first exposes her strong ethos by using the authority of the Supreme Court to exclaim why the youth shouldn’t be punished to a life sentence for homicide or manslaughter by saying, “the Supreme Court
This dialogue repeated itself several times over the next 30 minutes with most of the defendants having been moved to courtroom 406. At this point, the crown requested that a Judge call a 10 minute recess so that she could locate the paperwork for one of the contested release cases, and the Judge obliged.
When the Judge announced the verdict “Guilty” there was a slight murmur in the court room as was expected. Then the Judge began to announce the sentence “Life in prison without the possibility of parole”, the words cutting through the air like an arrow through a paper target. The courtroom was an arena of mixed feelings, half cheering in a celebratory manner, the other half crying and shouting in disbelief. Someone’s 13 year old son was going to prison for the rest of his life without any chance of parole. Children should never be sentenced to life without parole, making the sentence in
“Teens Who Expect to Die Young Are More Likely to Commit Crime” gives readers a look into a study conducted by the University of Texas at Dallas. My first thought, my first question was, “What teenager wants to die?” As I read on, I found out that teens like Henderson feel death would be easier than the lives they live, the lives they think they’re destined to live, or being locked up. Henderson, who is 18, used to hope and pray he’d make it to age 21. He, along with thousands of teens across the country, face challenges
My orotund voice elevated around the room as I presented the final youth speech to the California State Board of Education. I remember the cheers of my fellow youth advocates as I walked out of the building with poised shoulders and my internal giddiness. Nevertheless, I knew that the time I spent at Californians for Justice was worth it.
I am from the future. If you agree with me that the children should be able to march, segregation in Birmingham will be abolished. People have been trying to protest against segregation, but everyone ignored them. Hundreds of students will walk in the children’s march. When the people will see them, they will be shocked and won’t ignore the issue of segregation in Birmingham anymore. Children should be allowed to participate in the children’s march due to the fact that they help cause people to change their opinion about allowing segregation in Birmingham and not many adults that were willing to go to jail are to protest.
Villafana 1 Sarai Villafana Mrs. Kehmeyer ERWC 6 March 2015 Juvenile Justice research paper Minority disagrees that juveniles should have a second chance, but to be punished with a sentence to life in prison.As Latio stated,” Even a 17 and a half year old who sets off a bomb in a crowded mall or guns down a dozen students and teacher is a child and must be given a chance to persuade a judge to permit his release into society..” I strongly believe everyone within the years of 17 and younger should be able to have a second chance. The supreme court is on the right path to abolish mandatory life in prison for juveniles who commit murder. As Lundstrom states, “ but it can be used as evidence that teenagers are not yet adults, and the legal system should not treat them as such” (Lundstrom 88).
Throughout the juvenile sentencing process, 70% of children fourteen years old or younger are sentenced to life imprisonment without parole (lecture). In fact, they are five times more likely to be sexually assault within the adult prisons we have put them in (lecture). Children are born to roam, to be curious, to be free. The way the justice systems shoves them into these facilities that are meant for adults, should be considered demonizing. We are destroying the future of our country this way, and blaming these children for their flaws as if they knew any better. A typical trial from Just Mercy serves justice as a prime example of these consequences. Fourteen-year-old, one hundred pound Charlie was arrested for shooting his mother’s boyfriend, a law enforcement officer, dead; simultaneously after his mother was bleeding on the kitchen floor (pg. 118-119). He was then arrested, tried as an adult, and was put into adult prison. When Stevenson meets Charlie, Charlie wouldn’t say a word, or even make eye contact. After Stevenson’s long efforts to connect with Charlie and allow him to open up, Charlie aguishly said, “There were three men who hurt me on the first night. They touched me and made me do things . . . they came back the next night and hurt me a lot” (pg. 123). Later on, after Stevenson gave a talk to his church about Charlie, an elderly couple, named Mr. and Mrs. Jennings, were eager to meet Charlie
Attention Device: “The United States of America, the land of the free, home of the brave, has earned a new disturbing title as the world’s greatest jailer. The U.S represents just 5% of the world’s population, but we hold 25% of the world’s prison population (ACLU, 2017).”
1967: The age of greasers versus Socs. 2016: The age of jocks versus preppies versus nerds versus gangsters. In a span of 49 years, the socioeconomic groupings have evolved into more than just one group against another. Nowadays, people are not confined to choose between two groups, but partake into whatever group(s) they feel fits them best.