Arguments Against Juvenile Punishment
In Crowley, Texas a six year old girl returning home is quizzed by her parents, and later police about her encounter with the nearby neighbor, the young girl admits the perpetrator had indecently touched her. The accused was not charged with any crimes or labeled as a sex offender and allowed to return to his home on short probation two houses away from the victim two days later. Consequentially the family of the young girl was disgusted. The reason for the improper punishment: the boy was fifteen at the time the crime was committed. Many juveniles are not as lucky when their crimes turn into much more such as rape and murder. Those minors have a possibility of being sentenced to life without parole; a harsh sentence that should be saved for
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One main reason why life sentencing is so often contested against is the idea that continually harshly punishing a child for an action does not give chance for reform, for example “when a drug that has been prescribed for an illness fails to work, the best response is not always to give more of the same medicine.”(Carnell). Solutions offered by opponents to combat life sentencing are shorter sentences paired with reform programs, because "Most youth are likely to mature out of crime”(Jones), that is unless the justice systems makes it difficult for a child delinquent to transition to a law abiding adult. A tragic example of a juvenile being sentenced to life without parole is the case of Sara Kruzan a girl exploited by a man she considered a father, Howard raped her when she was only thirteen and sold her into prostitution and eventually, a “rival pimp gave Sara a horrific choice: either kill Howard or the rival pimp would kill Sara's mother."(Jones) Sara killed Howard and was sentenced to life without parole. In many cases such as Sara’s juveniles do deserve a second chance to be able to become valuable members of society, though it is unfair to assume that is the case for all juvenile offender currently serving life. The opposition offers a valuable view on incarceration, however many of the viewpoints are relied heavily on emotion, lacking facts and
One main reason why life sentencing is so often contested against is the idea that continually harshly punishing a child for an action does not give chance for reform, for example “when a drug that has been prescribed for an illness fails to work, the best response is not always to give more of the same medicine.”(Carnell). Solutions offered by opponents to combat life sentencing are shorter sentences paired with reform programs, because "Most youth are likely to mature out of crime”(Jones), that is unless the justice systems makes it difficult for a child delinquent to transition to a law abiding adult. A tragic example of a juvenile being sentenced to life without parole is the case of Sara Kruzan a girl exploited by a man she considered a father, Howard raped her when she was only thirteen and sold her into prostitution and eventually, a “rival pimp gave Sara a horrific choice: either kill Howard or the rival pimp would kill Sara's mother."(Jones) Sara killed Howard and was sentenced to life without parole. In many cases such as Sara’s juveniles do deserve a second chance to be able to become valuable members of society, though it is unfair to assume that is the case for all juvenile offender currently serving life. The opposition offers a valuable view on incarceration, however many of the viewpoints are relied heavily on emotion, lacking facts and