...Critical Analysis The issue of cruel and unusual punishment towards juvenile life without parole is one that needs to be addressed. The facts stated earlier in this paper have given more than enough reason to abolish life without parole sentences for juveniles. It has been argued in Graham v. Florida that because juveniles have a weak capacity to comprehend their behavior and actions, the punishment of life without parole might not be an effective deterrent from engaging in criminal conduct. Some states have already abolished juvenile mandatory life without parole as they have all found it to be cruel and unusual punishment. Many groups and advocates against life without parole for juveniles have seen this as a step in the right direction,...
Words: 954 - Pages: 4
...many arguments about whether or not juveniles should be sentenced to mandatory life without parole. The execution of juveniles for the crimes they committed when they were under the age of eighteen is a huge issue that the Supreme Court has had to deal with. It all started out in 1972 with Furman vs Georgia when the Court ruled that life without parole did not violate the eighth amendment of the constitution. Throughout the years there have been many different opinions about the situation. The majority of supreme court justices believes that it should not be mandatory to sentence a juvenile to mandatory life without parole for committing crimes but the other minority argues to retain it. I agree with the majority of justices who argue that sentencing a juvenile to life mandatory life without...
Words: 1255 - Pages: 6
...Life without parole is the harshest punishment given to juvenile delinquents. Since minors are still developing, it is argued that life without parole is only used as punishment for extenuating circumstances such as felony homicide. The Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to give life without parole to juveniles that commit “non-homicide” crimes (Kaiser 2012). In a recent Supreme Court ruling, a 5-4 vote opposed the mandatory sentencing of life without parole for children ages 18 and under (Savage 2012). This means that state laws need to take age and the nature of the crime into consideration before issuing a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Because of the harsh permanent nature of this punishment, other alternative sentences should be considered when handling juvenile cases. Life without parole should only be used as a last resort based on the individual case. Criminal sentencing is based on the “moral wrong committed” and the debt owed to society (Kaiser 2012). The basis of the law is to gain retribution for the actions, deter future crimes and to rehabilitate existing inmates (Kaiser 2012). Ideally the thought of life without the possibility of parole should be enough to deter anyone from doing a heinous crime. However, many of the prison cells are occupied by inmates with no possibility of parole. This penalty is setting a moral example by making sure that the person is unable to commit the offense again and to decrease the likelihood of...
Words: 1066 - Pages: 5
...Unjust Justice: Juveniles Serving Life Without Parole The 14th amendment of Constitution of the United States grants every American Citizen the right of due process of the law. This right is being denied juveniles sentenced to “life without parole”. Recent Supreme Court rulings have held that “life without parole” is cruel and unjust punishment for those juveniles sentenced for non-homicidal crimes, because of limited capacity. Life without parole is essentially cruel and unjust punishment for all juveniles sentenced, regardless of crime committed. This paper will delve into the recent changes in juvenile sentencing of “life without parole” initiated by May 2010 decision of the court in Graham v. Florida and the unconstitutionally of life without parole for juveniles. It will briefly discuss the 14th amendment which involves due process and the 8th amendment which involves cruel and unjust punishment. It will argue that juveniles should not be sentenced to life without parole regardless of their particular crime. The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution declares, ... “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”. Individuals are protected by due process when the state is required to follow the law of the land. Due process is violated when a person is harmed when the government does not follow the intent and letter of...
Words: 326 - Pages: 2
...the life without parole sentence for juveniles. Stevenson spends time talking about a few cases that had important impacts on himself and his fight against unfair sentencings. He also briefly talks about his court case in front of the US Supreme Court. I believe learning the history behind life without parole sentencing for juveniles will allow me to see what Bryan Stevenson was up against, when he argued his case in front of the US Supreme Court. The book had many different aspects about the justice system that interested me. However, it...
Words: 854 - Pages: 4
...Miller v. Alabama CJA/354 Miller v. Alabama The United States Supreme Court consists of eight associate justices and one chief justice who are petitioned more than 5,000 times a year to hear various cases (Before the Court in Miller V. Alabama, 2012). At its discretion, the Supreme Court selects which cases they choose to review. Some of the selected cases began in the state court system and others began in the federal court system. On June 25, 2012 the justices of the Supreme Court weighed in on the constitutionality of life without parole for juvenile offenders. The case was Miller v. Alabama and actually included another case, Jackson v Hobbs, as well (2012). Both were criminal cases involving 14 year old boys who were convicted of murder and sentenced to a mandatory sentence of life without parole (2012). In 2009, juvenile courts in the United States handled an estimated 1.5 million delinquency cases that involved juveniles charged with criminal law violations (Knoll & Sickmund, (2012). What made Miller and Jackson so special that the Supreme Court chose to hear the case was their age and the mandatory minimum sentence each of them received at the lower level jurisdictional court. To highlight the significance, a review of the two respective cases is necessary. Additionally, after reading this paper the reader will have a better understanding of what accomplice liability and criminal liability are, and the differences between the various elements of crime, and...
Words: 1431 - Pages: 6
...Death Penalty or Life in Prison Sierra Brattain Southwestern Michigan College Death Penalty or Life in Prison Death Penalty I began my research by looking into the death penalty or also known as capital punishment. The death penalty is the action of executing a person who has committed an illegal act equivalent to death. Crimes punishable by death vary depending on the state; some include murder, sexual assault, treason, and other serious capital crimes (“Crimes Punishable”, 2011). There are many different outlooks on the death penalty; some in favor of the death penalty believe it is the ultimate balance between good and evil and they often use the phrase, “an eye, for an eye.” By using death as punishment they can assure society that the offender cannot commit another crime. Also that it can deter people from committing violent crimes, with the reasoning of, if someone believes they will lose their life over an action they will usually choose not to perform the act. On contrast, those who oppose believe the death penalty is “a waste of life.” Many keep faith that everyone who may have committed a crime punishable by death can be rehabilitated, and could serve a purpose in society. Furthermore the death penalty takes the value away from life in society’s eyes, and causes it to seem unimportant. It is also strongly argued that the death penalty is unjustified because it can be dispensed upon the innocent. “Since 1900, 350 people have been wrongly convicted of homicide...
Words: 1177 - Pages: 5
...The death penalty and life without parole for a juvenile is one of the most controversial questions in the juvenile justice system today. Should a 13 year old sit and rot in prison for life, with days full of emptiness without a chance to change? The actual definition of capital punishment is the lawful inflictions of death as a punishment. Does life without parole for juveniles constitute to be cruel and unusual to be unconstitutional? Execution is not the right decision for a crime committed by a juvenile or life without parole because most juvenile do not fully mature until their late teens, they have time to change and placing them in prison for life would be a waste rather than a solution. The issue is so important because since the death penalty is out ruled for being unconstitutional, courts are finding a back way which is life without parole for juveniles who are murders. There are currently 79 of these juvenile killers who will die in prison. These 79 juvenile can change their life’s, they can be somebody in the future. But with their sentence they are hopeless; they will just die in prison. We can be using those 79 cells for mass murders or grown adults that have no hope in changing. I find that life without parole is cruel for a juvenile of such young age because they can change. Most time Juveniles may participate in certain remote acts for survival or parenting can play an incredible role in how juveniles make poor decisions, or simply peer pressure can affect...
Words: 523 - Pages: 3
...Running head: YOUNG OFFENDERS Young Offenders Carol Welles Coker College Abstract Youth offenders are those persons charged with serious crimes who are usually under a specified age. Every nation has its own policy about dealing with young offenders. In the United States, each state has its own juvenile offender standards. The treatment of juvenile offenders in the United States has been uncertain, uneven, and controversial since colonial times. Recently the United States Supreme Court changed the juvenile justice system by declaring the frequently applied life without parole sentence to be unconstitutional. Juvenile justice systems have been forced to rethink options for punishment for youth offenders convicted of a serious crime. The juvenile justice system has developed new approaches and new methods of rehabilitating juveniles whose crimes previously may have merited the life without parole sentence. Rehabilitation through education has replaced incarceration in most newly revamped governmental policies at the state level. Several organizations in Europe and the United States have developed in the last few years devoted to liberalizing juvenile justice policies throughout the western world. The definition of a young offender is universal. A young offender is a person within a specified age range who commits a criminal offense. A variation in the specified age for a young offender is the main difference between a young offender in Abu Dhabi and a young...
Words: 984 - Pages: 4
...person who has committed a heinous crime. Capital punishment has been around for centuries and is still used today in various countries including the United States. All though throughout the years capital punishment has lost its appeal and is gradually being ruled unconstitutional in the United States, the earliest being Michigan in 1846. Some of the 18 states that have already abolished capital punishment are New York, New Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, and Iowa. Sadly, California is not apart of the list of states that have abolished capital punishment. Capital punishment should be abolished in the state of California because too many innocent people have been executed, it cost too much money, it does not act as a deterrent to crimes, and life without parole is a more practical option than capital punishment. There are too many flaws in the capital punishment system and many of them lead to innocent people being executed. According to John W. Whitehead in his article “The Death Penalty Should be Abolished”, “In a Columbia University study on 5,760 capital cases, the report found an overall rate of error of 68 percent. In other words, courts found serious reversible errors in nearly 7 out of 10 capital cases.”(1). If one innocent person was executed that would be one to many, but the fact that there is an error rate of 68 percent is unacceptable. The most infuriating thing however, is that these innocent people are being executed because the law enforcement are cutting corners and not...
Words: 1805 - Pages: 8
...The Function of Parole in the United States When the subject of parole comes up many things come to mind, such as who make the decisions to release inmates from prison, who is on parole, who supervises them and how, who sends them back to prison, does it work, is it effective, is the community safe, and so on. To begin, lets define what parole is. Parole is a method of releasing offenders from prison prior to the expiration of their sentence (McCarthy and Leone, 121). Inmates are screened for the suitability for release based upon the risk they pose to the public (McCarthy and Leone, 121). If for some reason the parolee’s performance on parole is unsatisfactory, then they may have their parole revoked and be returned to prison. Some people think that parole is a waste of time and that offenders should just be left in prison to do their time and that is that. However, other people think that these offenders have a chance at being rehabilitated with parole and can help them become better people. I think if some of these offenders have been doing well in prison and can be released early under supervision of a parole agency, then they deserve a chance to try and make their lives better for themselves and even their loved ones. This kind of a program could really help some of these offenders get their lives back on track and get them stepping on the right path again. Parole, however, is not for every offender. Some offenders may get released on parole, but do not end up meeting...
Words: 2455 - Pages: 10
...then became much more serious when the fight got heated and Quantel picked up a knife and stabbed Michael twice who later died from the injuries of those stabs wounds inflicted by Quantel. The state of Missouri convicted Quantel at the age of fourteen of first-degree murder with a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. The state of Missouri along with many other states do not believe it is actually cruel or unusual punishment to give such a young person a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole: The state of Missouri considers the age at which he killed his step-brother – 14 – as too young legally to be allowed to sell fireworks, donate blood, leave school, have a tattoo without parental approval, get married, and consent to sex, work unlimited hours, be licensed as a barber, work as a cosmetologist or manicurist, or enter a contract. It was not too young, by state law, to be tried as an adult and sentenced to remain incarcerated forever. (Pilkington, 2012) According to several articles, Quantel Lotts early years of childhood in a St. Louis neighborhood was filled with abuse, neglect and uncertainty so he never learned what exactly a “normal” life was or how to behave in one. He grew up in a crack house with a mother who used and sold drugs. In Lotts' case, court documents reveal that he was sexually abused as a child. When child welfare officials took Lotts from his mother at the age of 8, they noted that he smelled of urine and...
Words: 2048 - Pages: 9
...sentenced to life in prison as juveniles and found the defendants in other cases were not uncommon. Seventy-nine percent witnessed violence in their homes regularly, 32% grew up in public housing, and 40% had been enrolled in special education classes. Fewer than half of the prisoners were attending school at the time of their offense, 47% were physically abused, and 77% of girls reported histories of sexual abuse (“Juvenile Life Without Parole”). Is a child who has been through so much mental trauma at such an age of there life deserve to be put in prison for life? “In the U.S. each year, children as young as 13 are sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison...
Words: 1072 - Pages: 5
...Terrence Graham was convicted in Florida as having committed armed robbery. Graham already had burglary and attempted robbery charges on his record. The Florida state court convicted him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Graham appealed the decision, saying that this sentence was in violation of the Eighth Amendment in that it constituted cruel and unusual punishment. When the case went to the Supreme Court, they ruled that it was unconstitutional for a juvenile to be sentenced to life in prison without parole for a non-homicidal...
Words: 814 - Pages: 4
...Should juveniles who commit first or second- degree murder receive a mandatory sentence of life without parole? That is a question that many people are asking themselves. This is a very debatable question due to the fact that if a juvenile does change, then he/she wouldn't have a chance at a new life because of the life sentence. I believe they should be granted a second chance, but if they take that second chance for granted, then they should be sentenced to life without parole. On the other hand, there has been cases where a teen who was sentenced to life got a second chance, but decided to take it for granted for being immature and emotionally unstable. Many teens make reckless decisions while growing up, some don't know better but others do. Where I stand in this situation is that juveniles should not be sentenced to mandatory life sentences without parole. Not many...
Words: 956 - Pages: 4
