Analysis Of Locked Away Forever By Patricia Smith

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“Thump! The jury finds you guilty! Three life sentences without parole!” the young boys and girls that hear this sentence generally aren’t considered the best of kids, however locking away a juvenile for life takes much more thought than it takes to address this sentence to a legal adult. In “Locked Away Forever” by Patricia Smith the question is attempted to be answered, which is should juveniles receive life sentences without chance of parole? In the article it states, “The court said that minors who commit terrible crimes are less responsible than adults: They are less mature, more susceptible to peer pressure, and their personalities are not yet fully formed.” In this quote the author is reasoning against life without parole because they are less mature and not fully developed. Although all crimes deserve proper punishment, juveniles should not receive life without parole because they are still developing and this punishment leaves no room for a second chance …show more content…

The quote in this article that supports this idea that juveniles deserve second comes on page two, ”“Ninety percent of teen offenders do not become adult criminals” says Laurence Steinberg, a psychology professor at Temple University in Philadelphia.” In this quote it is stating that just because someone commits a crime when they were younger by no means does it mean that they will commit such a crime again. The significance of this is that if they will most likely not commit a crime again, they should receive a chance of parole after a justifiable amount of time if they show remorse for their

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