When Kids Get Life Essay

Statistics have shown, “In a study of 1,042 juveniles prosecuted and sentenced in Pennsylvania adult criminal court showed that juveniles received harsher sentences in adult than did young adults, even controlling for legal factors such as offense seriousness and prior record” (Whitehead 212). Statistics have also shown when a juvenile is in an adult facility; he or she is more likely to become a reoffender because he or she is treated as an adult rather than a child. (Whitehead 213). The brain function of a child is not mentally capable of understanding the punishment he or she receives if he or she is able to see the harsh crimes which go on behind the bars of an adult correctional

Draft Paper In the documentary film, “Kids for Cash”, Robert May shows his audience the horrors of the Luzerne County justice system. He uses imagery, appeals to logos and pathos, personal experiences and anecdotes to support his claim. Robert May made this documentary to show the world that the government needs to make sure that even minors have a fair trial and justice before being incarcerated.

Leading up to this project I have been made aware of the details of how unfair and immoral the United States prison system is. In Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy, he explores the ways that criminal cases are handled, how not every police encounter is fair and legal, and the mistreatment of women and disabled inmates at below standard prisons. Subjects are plentiful because Stevenson does not limit himself to one injustice, instead he works to help as many innocent people as possible. For my research project, I have chosen the subject of wrongful sentencing of juvenile offenders as my topic, because I find that it is a complicated problem that may develop into misguided youths being completely targeted by the law. Before reading Just

As he faced justice through the court system, advocates unnecessarily argued that he was only a child and too young to serve as an adult. To show that an individual’s age should not be used as an excuse to justify their actions, Weir states “Some juveniles commit crimes so serious, so heinous, that public safety mandates — and justice demands — full accountability in our criminal justice system. There are those who argue this is unfair and unjust. They say the juvenile brain is not fully developed until well into the

The documentary "Consuming Kids" is a powerful and thought-provoking film that raises important questions about the impact of advertising on children. The film argues that advertising has become a pervasive force in children's lives, influencing their behavior, values, and attitudes. While some may argue that advertising is simply a harmless way to sell products, the documentary presents compelling evidence that advertising can have a negative impact on children's health, well-being, and development. One of the key arguments presented in the documentary is that advertising is designed to create a sense of need and desire in children. Advertisers use a variety of techniques to make children believe that they must have the latest toys, gadgets,

The Juvenile system was first established around 1899 during the Progressives Era Reforms. The progressive era reform was the first system to actually try to reform juveniles due to the fact that they were being trialed as adults. Psychologist made developments with research on the psyche of the juveniles being trialed as adults not beneficial to the state of mind that some minors can’t comprehend at the adult level. The findings from the research that were conducted, made society change their views on the juvenile delinquency.

These youth live in poverty, have endured homelessness and hunger, witnessed death and murder, and survived sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. It could be argued that because the youth do not know any other way of life that they should not be held accountable for their actions. However, when poor often black youths commit a crime, they do not have the financial resources available to afford the best attorneys or expert witnesses. As a result, these youths are more often found guilty and given harsher sentences relative to the crimes that they commit. The inability to afford proper legal representation has allowed many black youths to serve time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit.

These individuals are surrounded and being influenced by men or women who have done heinous crimes, nowhere near the kind of help they need to improve their violent life. Considering discussions in class, we read that Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan stated that, “Mandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of [his or her age and doesn’t help with maturity and learn from the consequences]”. This represents that from a higher vision, giving these juveniles life without parole won’t enhance their lives for the better. Letting them undergo being tried as an adult could restrict them from the opportunity of an education or job as well. From this discouraging discovery, “it makes sense that young people who go through the adult system are 34 percent more likely than those in the juvenile system to be re-arrested”.

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

We have seen today in society of how crime rates have been rampant and how statistics show that most of the crimes were being made by minors. I believe that when most of them look at the bottom of these young offenders come disproportionately from impoverished single-parent homes that are located in the neighbourhoods desinvertido and have high rates of learning disabilities, mental health, and substance abuse and problems with the help of the system of juvenile justice that can make a great return on a successful transition to adulthood. Their ages ranged from 20 and under, most are under fifteen years of age. Juveniles tried as adults must assume the same consequences as any other criminal and are subject to state prisons with inmates much higher and that have probably committed crimes much more tortuous then you could ever have. These minors between the ages of nine to twenty according to the offence committed or of the number of times that are prosecuted and believe that it is immutable.

The juvenile justice system has made numerous of ethical issues when managing juvenile offenders. The issue with the juvenile justice system is the laws and rules that govern it. It has led to years of controversial debate over the ethical dilemmas of the juvenile corrections system, and how they work with youth offenders. The number of minors entering the juvenile justice system is increasing every month. The reasons why the juvenile justice system faces ethical dilemmas is important and needs to be addressed: (1) a vast proportion of juveniles are being tried and prosecuted as adults; (2) the psychological maturation of the juvenile to fully comprehend the justice system; and (3) the factors that contribute to minorities being adjudicated in the juvenile justice system are more likely than White offenders.

There are many children in the world who are being put behind bars and detained for alleged wrongdoing without protections they are entitled to. Throughout the world, children are charged and sentenced for actions that should not be considered as adult crimes. Here in the United States, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is age 12. Law enforcement officials and those in the juvenile justice system nationwide tend to mistreat underage individuals by trying cases while working through the lens of an adult. Unfair punishments are still handed down domestically, which is in violation of Supreme Court law.

Even children have the capability to act and think the way as an adult would. Juveniles need to be held accountable for their actions because it was their actions that caused for them to be put in such a situation. 13 year old Derek King and his 12 year old brother, Alex, were being charged of bludgeoning their father, Terry King, to death. In the book, “Angels of Death,” by Gary C. King stated, “I hit him once and then I heard him moan and then I was afraid that he might wake up and see us, so I just kept on hitting him... I threw the bat on the bed, lit the bed on fire because I was scared of the [evidence] and everything.

Jessie Townsend May 3rd, 2016 Prof. Allen Wong ASOC283 Why Kids Get Life The documentary “When Kids Get Life” delves into four cases involving juveniles who are serving life without parole in Colorado prisons. All of these juveniles are serving this time due to first degree murder among other charges they have received. The ages of these juveniles at the time of their crimes range from fifteen to seventeen and all of them still currently remain incarcerated. By applying different delinquency theories to each case, there is a chance that one could explain or even rationalize why these juveniles committed the crimes that they did.

Juvenile Justice Should juveniles get treated as adults that’s one of the biggest controversy in our nation now days, with many juveniles committing crimes that are inconceivable according to their age. Judges have the last word on how to treat this young people. Many people argue that “the teens that are under eighteen are only kids, they won’t count them as young adults, not until they commit crimes. And the bigger the crime, the more eager this people are to call them adults” (Lundstrom 87). This is why people can’t come to a decision as how these young people should be treated like.