Juvenile Crimes In Sentencing Children

1874 Words8 Pages
A person can be held accountable for a crime that leads to a lifetime in prison without parole, but juveniles should never experience this type of punishment for a crime. A juvenile behind bars may have experienced a traumatic childhood such as unhealthy relationships with parental figures, allowing them to commit serious crimes later in life. I believe that a juvenile that has committed any type of crime should be permitted to have their cases reviewed. Only after the juveniles have shown an increase in maturity they would be allowed to have a possible release, sentence reduction, or potentially have no impact on their crime solution. The life of a child with an incarcerated, abusive, or a parent struggling with addiction can be very difficult…show more content…
Many people believe that there sentenced should be reviewed, based on their behavior of maintaining a stable lifestyle in prison. Once a young child commits a crime, their lives are severely impacted. Although, if the child shows a significant difference in behavior since the time they were admitted into the prison, their cases should be reviewed. In the documentary Sentencing Children, the statement “The bill is not asking that those people be released, only their sentences reviewed” (“Sentencing Children”). The review of the sentence may lead to a reduction of the criminal's sentence. Instead of a child living their entire life in prison, they may have a chance of a sentence reduction or freedom. There are many other court cases that state that sentencing children as adults are wrong. These cases include, but are not limited too, Roper v. Simmons, Graham v. Florida, and Montgomery v. Louisiana (Rovner, Josh). These court cases claim that it is immoral to sentence children as adults, along with sentencing a child to life in prison. The children’s lives will not benefit and their immaturity will never improve if they know they do not have a chance of ever getting released from…show more content…
Although in many situations, the juvenile’s sentence will remain the same. However, a child should never spend their entire life in prison. A child’s behavior will be shown through their behavior in prison. A child that shows progress should be allowed a second chance at life because “if they can show that they have learned, that they’re remorseful, that they are ready to start life over again, we should always give it to them that opportunity to do that” (“Sentencing Children”). Each juvenile knows what their actions did in order for them to be in the prison, once the child accepts their actions and why there were wrong; rehabilitation will begin to happen. The child will not show maturity progress if they spend their whole life in jail, they need to know how their actions affect others and to feel guilty about it. If the child can understand what their actions led too, especially how it affected the victim’s family, they will be less likely to become repeat offenders (“Sentencing

More about Juvenile Crimes In Sentencing Children

Open Document