Juvenile Life Imprisonment without Parole
By: Janet Rodriguez
Many teenagers in
the U.S. have been sentenced to life in jail without the opportunity to get
parole. Each year, children as young as 13 years old in the United States are
being sentenced to spend their life in prison without the opportunity of
parole. In the United States. Approximately 2,500 juveniles are sentenced to
juvenile life without parole. This notion is upsetting many child advocate groups
as well as families. In the 1990’s, many states passed a new legislation
specifically aimed at “Superpredators,” a type of teenage criminal known for
being impulsive and remorseless. From 1992 to 1999, almost every state approved
this legislature facilitating courts to punish juveniles as they would punish
adults. Juveniles accused of murder, or other similar crimes, would mandatorily
be sent to adult court. Adults convicted of murder would automatically be
sentenced to life in prison without parole in many states, which would mean
juveniles would also face this punishment. However, many cases like Miller vs. Alabama and Jackson vs. Hobbs, cause the Supreme
Court to reconsider and in 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles accused
of murder could not be mandatorily sentenced to life imprisonment without the
possibility of parole. 
Juvenile life in
prison without parole has been debated back and forth over the years with
people listing pros and cons endlessly. People who are pro juvenile life with
no parole often say that a crime is a crime. If a person commits a crime,
doesn’t matter the age, they will most likely do it again. Many also argue that
in order to protect the public from any harm, they need to incarcerate violent
and delinquent juveniles.
Most people
however, don’t think that juveniles should be sentence to life in prison
without parole. The most common used protest is that it is a violation of the 8th
amendment, no cruel and unusual punishment. People also state that juveniles
should be punished less harshly because they are very impulsive and are easily
persuade under peer pressure. Their brains are not fully developed and neither
are their personalities. Locking them up would not allow them to become a part
of society and that could be potential thrown away. Many of them are considered
to still be developing physically, mentally and emotionally, therefore they do
not have the same culpability as adults do and should instead be offered
treatment in the criminal justice system. Many also believe that if you
sentence a juvenile flexibly, they will start to think about the long-term
consequences of behaving badly in prison and be motivated to want to do better
whenever they are released again into society. In my personal opinion, I feel
that juveniles should not be sentenced to life without parole. This doesn’t
necessarily mean that they should be let out scotch free.
I feel that they
should be left in prison for a short term and then have the option of parole.
After all a crime is a crime, and how else would you teach them that what they
did was wrong. It’s like training a little kid from right and wrong, it just
can’t go ignored. I agree with the argument that most juveniles are impulsive
and are often persuaded to do certain things because of their friends and/or
adults. They might feel that they fit in better or that they will suddenly
become more likable to others. Juveniles also have a really low tolerance,
which will most likely cause them to lash out, even at the smallest,
insignificant thing. The most sentences of life without parole have been in
states where judges are obligated to impose it as a mandatory sentence, without
any consideration of the child’s age or life circumstances. The majority of the
youth being charged with life without parole are from just 5 states:
California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. More than 25
percent of people serving life without parole were convicted of accomplice
liability. Juveniles being sentenced to life without parole are often the most
vulnerable people in society. Nearly 80 percent have witnessed violence in
their homes and/or been physically abused. African American Juveniles are
sentenced 10 times more frequently to life in prison without parole than white
Americans.
Works Cited:
