Should Children Be Sent To Life In Prison?

Paul Thompson in the article, Startling Finds Teenage Brains, explains that a teen named Nathaniel Brazill was ruled by a Florida grand jury, who had previously ruled Brazill, was going to be tried as an adult. Thompson supports his explanation by first analyzing the problem and if Brazill had been tried before. He then investigates the situation and why teens decide to commit crimes. Lastly, the author explains how there was a university that researched why teens act the way they do. They were surprised at what they found out. They found out that massive loss of brain tissue occurs in the teen years. Thompson’s purpose is to show why teens commit crimes and act the way they act in order so that their parents take care of their teens and so

The juvenile court was founded on the belief that juveniles just don't posses the cognitive capacity to fully understand the repercussions of their actions. The juvenile court used to use all its resources to focus on how to rehabilitate juveniles, now all the court proceeding are to establish the legal guilt of a juvenile offender and a small percentage of the legal process establishing adequate punishment. Research on the brain over the last twenty years gives us more knowledge about how children develop and think. Until recently scientists believed the brain was fully developed by age 12. With brain imaging research we now know that this is not true(4 walker). The May 10, 2004 issue of Time Magazine discusses the development of the teen brain in great detail. Dr. Ruben Gur, a professor and director of the Brain Behavior Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania states that impulse control is the last area of the brain to develop and the first to fail as we age(4 walker). Teens do not think like adults due to the lack of impulse control and raging hormones. Hormones fuel emotional responses in teens. Drug use during these formative years damages brain development. How teens spend their time may affect the development of the brain(4 walker). Other research at the National Institute of Mental Health suggests that full

On June25, 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who committee murder could not be stentced to life in prison because it violates the eighth amendment. I understand that it violates the eighth amendment, but if we don’t stop these kids doing this kind of crime then we are letting them know that it is okay for them to do it at a young age when it’s not. Then we ask ourselves what we could’ve done when we lose a love in the violate choice that they chose. I would disagree with the Supreme Court in this case because we have to let them learn their lesson, they need to start to take responsibility, and because it has nothing to with the mentally.

Juvenile who show remorse for the crimes they commited should not be sentenced life without parole. Some kids commit crimes without realizing the damage they’ve cause, and I don’t think it's fair to be sentenced to life without parole. In the book “Just Mercy” the story of Trina who accidentally set a house on fire that killed two people. She was only fourteen, mentally disabled and sentenced to life in prison without parole for a crime she didn't’ intend to commit. A Lot of the crimes that committed by kids are usually mental illness and bad upbring and they shouldn’t be imprisoned for life without parole.

Many would say children who commit harsh crimes deserve to be punished, and the punishment should fit the crime. On one hand, support groups for juveniles argue it is unconditional for a children to spend the rest of their live in jail because their mind are not fully matured and they do not have a clear understanding of the crime committed and punishment that follows. On the other hand, these children killed and most hide from their crimes as it was never committed. Many of these children that were sentences to life in jail face a hearing rather than a trail, psychological casework is done to determine the state of mind of the child at the time of the crime, before and after. The child’s life is in

Whether Brandon Moore should be sentenced for life due to crimes he committed at age of fifteen, or receive a chance to parole.

Yes, juveniles deserve life sentences in jail if they decide to commit a violent crime. This is because there is no effective deterrent to force them to think twice. Over the course of time, this has resulted in even more juveniles being arrested for these activities. Evidence of this can be seen with figures provided by the Center for Disease Control. ("Youth Violence," 2010)

There are approximately 1,200 people that are currently serving a life sentence for crimes they committed as children (“Sentenced Young”). More than 25% of those people “were convicted of felony murder or accomplice liability”, as in they were not the person who killed the individual and may have not even been there when the killing took place (“Facts and Inforgraphics”). The majority of the juveniles sentenced to life-without-parole come from states where that is the mandatory sentence regardless of their age or circumstances (“Facts and Inforgraphics”). California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania have the greater part of the juveniles sentenced to life-without-parole (“Facts and Inforgraphics”). Fourteen states have banned

People need to realize that life sentencing is not bad. It is a form of justice, “Getting an eye for an eye”, but the more realistic way. Because if people were to kill because someone killed their own, there would be no peace and crime would occur everywhere. Many people are biased to say that a juvenile should get sentenced to life when it involves their own family, who wouldn’t. But we have to be reasonable enough to realize that a juvenile doesn’t deserve to die, they are just starting their life. In the article "Behind one Supreme Court case, the tale of forgiveness for sister's killer", by Cristian Science Monitor, the author states “Three years ago, the Supreme Court declared that mandatory life sentences were unconstitutional for those

Do you remember when you were scolded by your parent after you stayed beyond your curfew or scratched your their car? You were probably in trouble but then given another opportunity to redeem yourself. Just as a parent forgives his child when they did something wrong after they face their consequences, our judicial system should not sentence juveniles as adults since adults can face life in prison. In 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles cannot be sentenced as adults and serve life sentences. They argued that life sentences would be unconstitutional because they would violate the 8th amendment regarding the ban of cruel and unusual punishments. Juvenile should not be sentenced as adults when they commit heinous

Think about one thing real quick. Look back at the stupidest decision or act that you made when you were ten, fourteen, or even seventeen years old. If you were put in the same circumstance now as you were then would you make the same choice? Most likely not. You see; we, now as adults; don’t think the same way we used to when we were minors.

The Supreme Court makes hard decisions when it involves juveniles. But they also cannot sentence any juvenile to prison without parole for life. In the video “Young Kids Hard Times,” they sentenced a 12 year old boy Paul for 25 years for being an accomplice in the killing of Colt Lundy's stepfather. I do not believe that it was right to take away twenty-five years of Paul's life. Sometime the courts make too rash of a decision and other times the punishment isn’t enough. When people in general commit crimes they need to pay time, but they also need treatment for why they did what they did. The court system doesn’t always sentence juveniles to the correct punishment they need.

People obviously know that teenagers do not have a fully developed mind, but they do not know what causes these immature actions. In the article On Punishment and Teen Killers, “If brain development were the reason, then teens would kill at roughly the same rates all over the world. They do not” (Jenkins Par. 8). This shows that teenagers are not all killers or sociopaths, it states that teens do not think the same way as others do in different situations. In the article Startling Finds on Teenage Brains, “These frontal lobes, which inhibit our violent passions, rash actions, and regulate our emotions, are vastly immature throughout the teenage years” (Thompson Par. 7). This fact proves that teens do not have a mature mind to make correct decisions

Among the reasons adolescents are incapable of the same reasoning and maturity as an adult is the fact that their brains have not yet fully developed. According to the “Young Adult Development Project” at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), the human brain does not reach full maturity until at least the mid-20s. As a result, minors do not possess the mental capacity to understand the consequences of their actions. They cannot fully comprehend the seriousness of the situation until it is already too late. Teenagers are especially susceptible to this, which can lead to regret, guilt and many obvious mistakes. Researchers at MIT point out the limitations of the teen brain in their Young Adult Development Project, “At the same time young adults are experiencing new levels of sophistication in thinking and emotional regulation, their brains are undergoing changes in precisely the areas associated with these functions.” Additionally, The University of Rochester Medical Center writes in their article “Understanding the Teen brain” that “Good judgement is not something [minors] can excel in... yet.” In 2016 a 10-year old boy shot and killed his brother while they were playing cops and robbers with a rifle he did not know was loaded.

On the article “Startling Finds On Teenage Brains” By Paul Thompson states “teen-brain research is the finding that a massive loss of the brain tissue occurs in the teen years” Teenagers don’t have full use of their brains and society feel as if juveniles are tried as adults they will get the full punishment that is deserved. Juvenile courts fail to stop violence. The courts believe that they should be punished for adult crimes if they are going to act in such manors ,children are vulnerable of suffering mental and physical violence in jails, they are able to rebuild, and we as people are ending a human being’s life.The article also states “reckless actions restructure themselves with startling speed in the teen years” They don’t fully understand themselves so how can they fully understand what’s ever wrong. The first problem associated with trying children as adults, is the simple fact that a child would never be able to survive and learn the wrong in grown persons environment, such as