McDowell 1

Isaac McDowell

English Expos.

Mrs. Bowyer

19 February 2019

Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life in Prison

On June 25th, 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who committed murder could

not be sentenced to life in prison because it violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel or

unusual punishment. Kids are Kids, no child should be locked up for life unless an inherently

evil thought out crime has been committed. Homicide is the worst crime but in striking down the

juvenile death penalty in 2005, the Supreme Court recognized that even in the most serious

murder cases “Juvenile offenders cannot with reliability be classified among the worst

offenders.” They are less mature, more vulnerable to peer pressure, cannot escape dangerous

environments and their characters are still in development. Now this isn’t an excuse for Children

to go murder someone but to realize there's more to the juvenile crime issue than we realize, it all

comes down to brain development.

As far as maturity goes, children are far from adults. This is demonstrated in a number of

cases. On March 9, Lionel Tate-who was twelve when he savagely beat to death a six-year-old

girl-will most likely spend life in prison. Tate supposedly was imitating his World Wrestling

Federation heroes when he pummeled his playmate less than a third of his size. And last month a

fifteen year old robbed and stabbed a gas station clerk then reportedly claiming he was only

mimicking his favorite tv show. The list goes on. We live in a society intrigued by violence, and

young children are taking this for real. It is quite the question these days for the under eighteen
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crowd, the group who we write off as kids. It’s why they can't smoke, or drink, or go to R

movies without an Adults OK. It’s why they don’t vote, it's why they have curfews. They are

only kids, till they commit a crime. Meanwhile in Texas, a lawmaker has had it. “You want to

throw the adult book at kids?” Lower the Voting age to 14. Which leads me to the question, how

can we give such a power of voting to children who mimic TV Shows?

I think most now can realize, something isn’t right, maybe a part of Juveniles brains are

underdeveloped? Well that's right! Researchers discovered a massive loss of brain tissue that

occurs in the teenage years. The loss was like a wildfire and it could be seen in every teenager.

This tissue being lost controls impulse, risk-taking, and self control. The frontal lobes which

inhibit our violent passions, rash actions, and regulate our emotions are vastly immature through

the teenage years. From birth to Adulthood and further on the human brain is undergoing many

changes. It is being molded and made into the person he/she is going to be. In the late 1980s a

small but influential group of criminologist predicted a violent wave of youth known as the

“Superpredator.” This never came to pass, in fact the Juvenile crime rate decreases by a lot. So if

Juveniles brains are still being developed and are malleable pieces what could be the issue.

Eat big to get big. Eat healthy to be healthy. This doesn't just have truth to our bodies but

our minds as well, metaphorically. What is feed into our minds at this age is crucial to what we

are going to be like when we reach adulthood. In the Documentary “Prison Kids” a few different

kids are followed, they talk about their life and it can be seen through the camera. The big thing

that I took from the Documentary was these kids have no real guidance. All they know is crime

and violence. Either both parents are drug addicts and left or the dad has never been apart or ever

even seen his kid. As the Hysteria of the Superpredator arose many began to believe that some

children were hopelessly defective perhaps genetically also. Today few believe criminal Genes
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are inherited, except in the sense parental abuse and negative home lives can leave children with

little hope and limited choices. A Child cannot sense a dangerous environment when he or she is

young they grow up in that and it becomes all they know. Which is very sad. This still doesn't

mean someone cannot change.

In Conclusion, some crimes it is evident a Juvenile would need life in Prison. Still a

sad thing but it gets to a point where it's had some thought going into it, which is wrong. Though

this isn’t always the case. Some children are dealt a bad hand. The human brain is an incredible

thing, and with a little time and hard work along with the support of others these predisposed

super predators can learn to live the right way.

Word Count: 884

Works Cited

Garinger, Gail. “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences.” New York Times 15 Mar. 2012, New

York ed.: A35. Print.

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Jenkins, Jennifer Bishop. “On Punishment and Teen Killer.” Juvenile Justice Information

exchange. 2 Aug. 2011. Web. 11 June 2012.

Lundstrom, Marjie. “Kids are Kids-Until they Commit Crimes.” Sacramento Bee 1 Mar.

2001: A3. Print.

Prison Kids. Dir Alissa Figueroa. Fusion Media Network. N.p., 2 Oct. 15. Web.

Thompson, Paul. “Startling Find on Teenage Brains.” Sacramento Bee 25 May 2001: B7.

Print.