Monday, October 8, 2012

Life Sentences: As a Tool To Deter Juveniles


The justice system has revealed over the years that it has improved; but still encompasses flaws that require reconstruction of sentencing regulations. Perhaps relocating a juvenile to an adult prison is not the appropriate path to educate nor to rehabilitate a juvenile. In the case of T.J Parsell, an article featured in The New York Times, he claims that on his first day in prison as a juvenile, he was drugged, gang raped and turned into sexual chattel (Slotnik, 2012). In what circumstances does it make it right for a juvenile to intake this type of violence? It is unfortunate that this is common in the prison system, but I disagree that a juvenile should be sent to adult prison regardless of their crime. Their punishment should be fulfilled in a juvenile system, where their age, size (proportion of body weight), or crime is not discriminative. In an adult prison, juveniles are more likely to be targets of violence and constant manipulation by experienced offenders; which becomes not only a burden but also a disadvantage to the individual.
Intellectual development of a juvenile differs tremendously to that of an adult cognitive thinking, life experience, self-knowledge, and growth of a juvenile lacks to that of an experienced adult.  “At the time I was sent to prison, for robbing a Fotomat with a toy gun, I was still a boy- physically, cognitively, social and emotionally - and ill equipped to respond to the sexualized coercion of older, more experienced convicts” (Slotnik, 2012). As Mr. Parsell reflects among his experience in adult prison, reality is, that juveniles are still considered “children”, their behaviors may be deviant to society but essentially they do not comprehend or interpret similar conceptions of life compared to an adult. It is a matter of re-analyzing the situation and the outcomes it will for set in their future. Furthermore, a defect with this regulation in sentencing juveniles to adult prison is the ability to learn new methods of intellectual “street” knowledge and the simple concept of violence. This encourages innovative violence and continuous deviant behavior, preparing delinquents to become chronic and experienced offenders.
The purpose of a judicial hearing for juveniles in an adult court is to deter and prevent their deviant behaviors from reoccurring. In most cases this is not accurate. Members of congress argue that sentencing juveniles to adult prison has not indicated successful turnouts. Instead juveniles appreciate the opportunity of gaining knowledge from other experienced convicts; allowing them to be precise and skilled in their behavior. An act of interpersonal knowledge which is communicated by reassurance is measured to be the most qualified skilled of interpretation.
Over time, juvenile regulations become further harsh and severe in the justice system. “Pennsylvania prisons have nearly a quarter of the nation’s approximately 2,100 teen lifers because state sentencing laws give judges only two options for anyone convicted of first-degree murder: a death sentence or life in prison without parole” (Dale, 2012). This was issued in the news article titled, Pa. man, sentenced to life as teen, seeks release, which demonstrates the veracity of juvenile justice in our current world. According to The New York Times, data indicates that Pennsylvania is the top state to obligate juveniles to serve a life sentence without parole for certain crimes regardless of age; 444 are serving life without parole, 18 of those lifers are between the ages of 13-14 years old, and an estimate of 25% of juveniles will never get to appreciate or understand the quality of life ("Sentencing juveniles," 2011). Sentencing regulations can be inconvenient to the justice system and a potential danger to society. Education and rehabilitation must be the first method of transitioning juveniles back to society, disregarding those juveniles who do not seek change. We should be able to differentiate juveniles from adults, regardless of their intentions to commit the crime. Society should open an opportunity of second chances.   







































References

Dale, M. (2012, 07 02). Pa. man, sentenced to life as teen, seeks release Deseret News ,
            Retrieved from
            teen-seeks-release.html  

Sentencing juveniles (2011, 04 20). The New York Times , Retrieved from
            http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/04/20/us/juveniles.html


Slotnik, D. E. (2012, 06 08). When should juvenile offenders receive life sentences?. The
            New York Times , Retrieved from



6 comments:

  1. Interesting. I think it's hard to deal with juveniles, personally. It seems like you could possible rehabilitate them, but then it doesn't. Life sentences are not efficient. I believe people just want to lock-up our youth and throw the key away. No one wants to deal with them. What happened to restorative justice? Things are going to have to change, espcially with how juveniles are handled in the criminal justice system.

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    1. Yes I agree, some feel that there is no hope to rehabilitate, but in reality I feel that they have a greater chance of turning their lives around. Juveniles are still "minors" and have an adolescence attitude, with all the proper measurements I believe that the juvenile justice can show these juveniles that what they are doing is wrong, and must not be repeated or influenced to commit the deviant act again. We do need restorative justice, that direction can assist in a successful turnout rate for juveniles and the system. Its all a matter of time and effort put into juvenile justice that will perhaps change the system.

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  2. In my opinion juvenile justice system needs to be fixed to were juveniles are not being thrown into the adult system. Juveniles are not fully developed and are easily persuade by others. In this case if thrown into the adult system and sentenced for a long time, then the chances of those juveniles being rehabilitated and changed are very little. They will begin to look for protection and an identity that they don't have at the time. This will make them be around sophistcated criminals that will teach them how to be more violent and commit more crimes. I also agree on life sentences not being effective. the system should focus more on more rehabilitation programs rather than being harsh on juveniles and locking them up.

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    1. This is one regulation that I am fully against. As we hear or read about these new regulations of giving juveniles a life sentence in an adult prison, we are causing several more complications to the situation. Not just on the juvenile but to society and the justice system. It relates back to "unintended consequences" and these consequences can affect the individual for a life time. Instead of finding harsher punishment for high risk criminals we should instead reform the juveniles laws that allow rehabilitation and restorative justice to be the consequences of their actions. In essence, we have the same perspective of juvenile justice.

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  3. I agree that puttting children into adult prison is not the answer and that we are only setting them up for experiences like that you described as well as making giving them the opportunity to learn from the criminals in prison and become better criminals. In regards to the life without parole of juveniles in prison, this also should be reviewed, especially in the cases of childre who are 13 or 14 years of age. Keeping in mind that every case is different, and every child is different there are cases where imprisoning these children is the suitable punishment, but overall these laws need to be changed and with a much higher emphasis on rehabilitating these youth. Even more of an effort should be put into juvenile justice and reahilitation programs because they have the chance to have a future and a second chance at life without crime, instead of locking them up and having them learn how to be better criminals.

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    1. I believe you bring a very valuable point, in which times we seem to forget that every juvenile's case is different and should be handled different from other delinquents. Some need more attention then others and some need to be in the system longer than others too; but I agree, placing juveniles in adult prison should not be te solution or an option. Those who commit heinous crimes should be punished accordingly to their crime and with the intentions to rehabilitate. Essentially, that should be the main goal, rehabilitation, so they will not have the motive to commit a crime again and will not be a threat to society.

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