Disparities In Juvenile Prisons

If a teenager were to commit murder, most people say that they should be sentenced to life without parole. If a teen is sentenced to life without parole, they are also sent to adult prisons. In adult prisons, teens do not “have access to any education” (Caitlin Curly), therefore, they cannot learn anything from prison. Even if some prisons have educational services, teens in adult prisons are “36 times more likely to commit suicide than those in juvenile facilities” (Caitlin Curly). Consequently, these teens won’t live with being in jail their whole lives. Although, some teens commit offenses at age thirteen and fourteen. “Approximately 79 individuals who committed offenses at age 13 or 14 have been sentenced to LWOP” (Charles Stimson, Elizabeth

The stride that kids make to learn from their actions is a noteworthy factor. Gail Garinger, a former juvenile court judge states, “I have seen firsthand the enormous capacity of children to change and turn themselves around” (Garinger 2). Of course when faced with a mistake, children are going to learn from it and become better by it. We simply must stop dehumanizing these kids for acting on impulse and making mistakes. Murder is a huge deal. But the punishment that is being dulled out to these children simply isn’t just. Forcing a juvenile to spend the rest of their life wasting away in a cell is cruel and unusual punishment. The punishment these kids should be given is time for rehabilitation, time for consolation, and nothing more than that. How is a child, forced to live the rest of their days behind bars, going to use what they learned from their actions and positively affect society? Taking away the life of a juvenile is almost as bad as the juvenile committing the crime itself. Punishment should not be payback, it should be

A plethora of children in the United States is being tried as an adult consequently, 3000 children nationwide are sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Children under the age of eighteen should not be tried as an adult in the interest of the physical and mental well-being of the child. Many questions should be asked by the court before considering trying a child as an adult. What was the nature and nurture of the accused child? Was the child being abused? Was the child using self-defense in an attempt at extricating him or herself out of a precarious situation? Why would a child under the age of eighteen be tried as an adult? If a child is being tried as an adult because the juvenile court is considered too amiable

“When congressional lawmakers last reauthorized the landmark Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, in fiscal year 2002, they gave about $547 million for juvenile justice. Today, federal spending on juvenile justice totals less than half that amount — about $251 million” (Gately, 2015). Although this may look like a big amount of money to any citizen it is still not enough for our juvenile system. Some say this amount falls short of the needs at a critical stage for federal juvenile justice funding. If we can spend a few more millions dollars each year to deter juveniles from committing more crimes in the future then we are only going to better our country and communities as a whole. Things are going to be safer, facilities will hopefully have less people and we will make this money back in the long run creating a safer environment to live

Juveniles in prison face increased violence and sexual abuse, and are at much higher risks of committing suicide than juveniles in juvenile prisons. In addition, the number of released prisoners that turn back to crime is much higher for those that were juveniles in adult prisons. Juveniles will face the consequences of their actions in juvenile prisons, but will also be given a second chance to change their lives through rehabilitation. It is time to stop failing this nation’s juveniles and build a system that benefits not only these children, but society as a whole through the end of a vicious criminal

The juvenile justice system in America has seen many trends in the incarceration of youth. Initially, the system was created to help children who were left abandoned, neglected or abused. However, with the demands of stronger juvenile laws, the correctional facilities have become more of a prison, than of a rehabilitation center. Unlike the adult justice system, the arrested minors often go through a series of steps such as intake, determination of jurisdiction, adjudication and disposition. Today, with the rise of juvenile crimes, more than a million minors are set into the juvenile justice system for even the smallest of crimes. In that regard, many of these minors are being arrested for running away from home, truancy, ungovernability, liquor offenses, etc. These minors are plagued by juvenile records which prevent them from living a life that does not include more criminal activity.

Not only does Berstein call for an overall reform of this nation’s juvenile prisons, she goes as far as saying the practice of locking up youth is in need of a “more profound than incremental and partial reform” (13). The fact that Bernstein outlines the numerous failed strategies and goals of this practice with her compelling use of studies and statistics is enough to promote an audience to reject the practice of locking up youth. The statistic she shares that “four out of five juvenile parolees [will be] back behind bars within three years of release” as well as the studies she conducted on numerous instances when a guards abuse of power lead to the death of a child work to further prove her point: being that “institution[s] as intrinsically destructive as the juvenile prison” have no place in a modern society (13, 83). Bernstein refutes this false sense effectiveness further by sharing her own ideas on what she believes works as a much more humane solution to rehabilitating

The American juvenile justice system was designed over a hundred years ago to reform kids who were found guilty of minor crimes such as petty theft and truancy. Today, the system is becoming overwhelmed by crimes of violence. Stealing and skipping school have been replaced by violent crimes, such as rape and murder. The juvenile justice system is not meant to deal with these kinds of problems. In the past, the juvenile justice system sought to rehabilitate youthful offenders by taking a protective stance over juvenile delinquents. However, the protect instead of punish philosophy does not work for today’s society. Today, as juvenile crime has become more common and violent, our system will be forced to change. The justice

Many people have disregarded the fact that children too can commit despicable crimes; crimes that not even adults would think about committing. Juveniles have had their era in in being able to manipulating courts to give them a lighter sentences for their so-called “mistakes”. These juveniles have made puerile excuses to try and exonerate their actions by blaming their impulses, rather than taking accountability for them. Juveniles should be tried as adults due to being aware of their crimes and having an intention to kill, however, brain development and maturity can play a role into the reason why teens kill. With being tried as an adult juveniles should be granted the opportunity of freedom pending on their rehabilitation status and if requirements

In the United States prisons there are two thousand juveniles serving life without parole before, the age of eighteen. Only one of a few countries in the world allows children, to be sentenced to prison without release. And, the United States is one of them holding young teens accountable for their actions. But, there is accordance with age, stage development and how their cases should be dealt with in court. There are an estimated twenty-six percent of juveniles sentenced to prison for life convicted with felony murder. There is fifty-nine percent serving life without parole with a first time sentence. For example, there are twenty-six states that sentence life without parole being mandatory for anyone. So may feel, there is a racial issue

In today’s society, juveniles can and do commit violent crimes. As a result, many are tried as adults and, if convicted, are sent to adult prison and sentenced to juvenile life without parole. Life without parole means that a young person is locked up for life without a second chance. Although some may argue that juveniles, who have committed violent crimes, deserve juvenile life without parole sentence, in reality, juvenile offenders should not be sentenced to life without parole because juveniles are mentally and emotionally immature, the victims of their own environment, and can be rehabilitated.

The controversial issue of juvenile crime is a frequently intangible topic. Naturally, most people find the idea of a young child committing a severe crime very appalling, as no one expects a wide-eyed child to engage in such a heinous act of misconduct. In the essay “Adult Crime, Adult +30Time”, Linda J. Collier affirms that children who engage in adult conduct should undoubtedly be sent to an adult prison (Collier 608). Clearly, a child should be penalized for a corrupt act such as murder, but, Ms. Collier’s solution is considerably harsh for a child of such a young age. In the order of criminal justice, a young child should certainly not be disciplined in the same manner as an adult. The immaturity of children, harshness of adult prisons, and the ability of juvenile prisons to efficiently rehabilitate child offenders are a few reasons why young children should not be sent to adult prisons.

There are approximately 1,200 people that are in jail for life for crimes they committed as children (“Sentenced Young”). More than 25% of those people “were convicted of felony murder or accomplice liability”, that is 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 live-without-parole come from states that’s 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 live-without-parole(“Facts and Inforgraphics”). 14 states have banned live-without-parole sentences

Teenagers in society today are committing crimes and thinking that they are just going to get a slap on the wrist but what they do not know is that these judges are now making examples out of them. The judges are now taking the crimes these juveniles are committing more serious than before and sometimes. Some judges are giving juveniles a break and giving them probation or letting them go on parole but putting stipulations on the probation like them must complete certain treatment programs, take certain class (anger management) to help them control their problems they are having (Young, Farrell & Taxman, 2013). Race plays a huge part in society when dealing with juveniles and them receiving a certain punishment (Morgan, 2014). For example,

Every year in the United States, children as young as 13 are sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison without any chance for release. Approximately 2,500 children have been sentenced to juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) in the United States. Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2012 that juveniles convicted of murder cannot be subject to a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.