Juvenile Sentences By: XXXXXXXXXXx
Should juvenile offenders receive the same prison sentences as adults? Juvenile offenders should receive the same prison sentences as adults to receive the same consequences any other person would have had for a crime they committed. First of all everyone should be treated fair no matter what age if someone committed a crime they have to be punished. A crime is still a crime no matter who commits it and there has to be consequences for the ones who commit it. Prisons are supposed to keep society save from criminals they should not just a give a slap on the wrist to a juvenile offender and let them continue their lives after committing a crime that an adult would get a life sentence for. Treating juvenile offenders as adults will help reduce crimes committed by young kids because they will realize they will have to face the consequences. Criminal should be punished the same way no matter what the age is if they commit the same crime. Age is not an excuse when someone commits a crime everyone would agree they should be punished. Why should a juvenile get a lighter sentence than an adult for a crime they committed that is not fair? Put yourself in someone else’s shoes what if one of your family members was the victim of a juvenile offender or an adult offender shouldn’t both offenders get the same sentence age wouldn’t matter there should be justice. Any family would not want to see a juvenile offender get out of jail after they committed a horrible crime just because they are young and
they did not get the same sentences as an adult would. There should be fairness anywhere; if the same crimes were committed by a juvenile and an adult both offenders deserve the same prison sentence. It’s hard to punish juvenile offenders and it might be hard to do but criminals are still criminals. A criminal is a criminal no matter what his age is his race or his intentions are if they are not doing anything productive and disturbing the peace they should be punished at any age. If innocent people go to jail because they supposedly were proven guilty then why shouldn’t actual juvenile offenders who did commit crimes go to prison and get prison sentences as adults? Criminals should not get a lighter sentence or not get punished just because of age. Juvenile offenders should not even be committing crimes in the first place they need to be focused on school. Juveniles know what they are doing they make their own choices they choose where they end up in the first places by the choices they make. Juvenile offenders need to face the consequences for their actions they need to think before they do something. Use prisons for what they are supposed to be used for to punish the criminals and to keep society safe and bring peace to families of the victims or crimes. Make juveniles get life sentences for murders or get years in prison for a crime they commit that’s what prisons are for. If juveniles don’t get sentenced like adults for the crimes they commit then we should not have prisons at all why even have them if we are not going to punish the offenders. If Juvenile offenders did not think of the consequences before they committed a crime it was their choice no ne forced them to do anything and if they did then they were not in the right path they were obviously making bad choices in the first place. The same things goes for adults so if adults get prison sentences for committing
crimes then juvenile should too they have to go to jail and pay for their choices. So lastly use prisons for what their supposed to be used for just because kids were making bad choices doesn’t mean they should not get punished. If we go by being fair and treating criminals for what they are and using the system like it’s supposed to be used for juvenile crime rates will go down. Young kids they will notice that they can and will be punished for crimes they commit if they do not make the right choices. If juveniles see that they will have to face consequences for the actions they take it will bring fear into them which will make them think twice before they make a bad choice. That is the only way to reduce crimes from juveniles to bring fear into them and if that doesn’t work they will face the consequences and be sentenced to prison just like adults. Juveniles and adults are humans if they commit crimes they have to go to prison don’t make any excuses for them just because they are kids and they don’t know what they are doing? Make prisons useful and use them for what they were made for to bring fear to young kids to make them think before they act and it will bring crime rates down. The fact of the matter is juvenile offenders should get the same prison sentences as adults age is just a number they still committed a crime they have to be punished like adults. Just because someone is a juvenile it doesn’t make it right to not punish them like an adult if they commit a serious crime like murder for example like Cyntoia. She did not have a great life as a child but she could have done something positive with her life but the bad
choices got her to her consequences. A criminal will be a criminal no matter if you r a girl a boy white black brown old or young everyone needs to be treated equally and fair. If we start using the prison system like it’s supposed to be used for to punish any kind of offender the crime rates will go down and keep society safe. Juveniles need to and have to make better choices in life because juveniles should get the same prison sentences as adults for the crimes they commit.
Unproductive Prisons in America By XXXXXXXXXX Criminal Justice is unfair and ineffective in America. I believe this for many reasons. First, some are wrongly accused, especially if they are poor or black. Second, certain sentences on minor cases are too harsh. Third, most prisons don’t do a good job on rehabilitation and education is weak. Anyone being put away will do no good unless you change and act effectively. But one of the biggest problems is that children are being tried as adults. A crime is when a person breaks the law. There are a lot of different kinds of crimes. Some are violent and some are not, for instances in a robbery or rape. Others don’t have victims such as traffic violation or drug use. In spite of the varieties of crimes, Americans tend to punish all of them by sending individuals to prison. In addition, if you commit three crimes, you automatically get life sentence. Is it fair to put a person behind bars for life for doing insignificant crimes? The cruelest thing that our justice system still does is to try children who commit serious crimes as adults. A lot of states have laws that allow kids who commit crimes like serious murders to be tried as adults. If they are found guilty, they are held in juvenile correctional facilities until 21 years old and spend the rest of their lives in adult prison. Children don’t have the mental ability to know how serious their actions are. Most of the kids who commit crimes come from situations where they are abused or neglected. How can they be treated like adults?
The prison system is unjust to non-white and poor people. Most of it deals with the environment they live in. More importantly children who do not receive enough education don’t have a good paying job. This pushes people to desperately go around and commit more crimes for the money. Next, is the fact that most people can’t afford to hire a good lawyer which leads them sometimes to an unfair trail. More than half of men in poor black neighborhoods go to prison at least once in their life. The sad thought is most of them in jail are poor black folks. When a poor child gets caught in the system they can’t be sure of getting anything like a fair trial. And no one is really looking out for their interests. Prisons are supposed to help a person become a better citizen but results have not been successful. I think prisons really focus more on the punishment than trying to help. Since the amount of people keeps increasing not everyone in prison get into rehab programs. In general, a prison doesn’t change ones behavior and can help grow aggressiveness. Criminals who get let out of prisons often do more crimes and end up back where they started. A reason for some people might be on purpose because the fact they can’t handle life on their own. Cyntoia had a shocking and horrible life at a young age. Her story showed an sample of how bad the justice system can be and how it works when the government decides to take a damaged child and treat her like an adult criminal. She was born with a drug abusing mother
who gave her up for adoption at a young age. Her adopted father would repeatedly beat her and she never felt accepted by anyone. Worst of all, Cyntoia had a relationship with a guy who forced her to become a prostitute for him. Next she shot of man she was having sex with out of fear and self-defense. At age of sixteen, she went to court and got a life sentenced for life. Justice system also wanted to try her as adult. Cyntoia was unloved, physically and sexually abused child. All she needed was guidance and help but instead was thrown into prison. This is an example of an unfair case! I think we need to save the prisons for dangerous criminals that should never be let out into society but not for children. The system should provide more rehabilitation for everyone instead of just taking them to prison. There are too many crazy people in this world that need all the help they can get. Society needs fair trails even for poor people! In the case of children, I think that Wilbert Rideau said was right. Society should make a big effort to set up ways to STOP children from wanting or needing to commit crimes in the first place. Give everyone an equal education, equal opportunities, and maybe boys and girls crime level will decrease.
Work Cited: Why Prisons Don’t Work Article by Wilbert Rideau Cyntoia’s Story Video Class notes
http://youthandjustice.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/minority-youth-and-pipelining-in-the-u-s-criminal-justicesystem/