Juveniles Serving Life Sentence – When it comes to the United States, it is the only country to sentence children to life imprisonment without any hope of parole. Washington is one of 29 states in which juveniles serving life sentence without parole is mandatory. However, the Supreme Court ruling requires us to rethink, sentence children for crime, and change our law.
In the past few years, the US Supreme court has made a clear statement that they may not consider juvenile sentences similar to adults. The court has made few rules, which are as under.
- It is compulsory life term is unconstitutional when we apply to children.
- The court must evaluate each child juvenile serving life imprisonment.
- Children serving Life imprisonment must provide the opportunity for release in the future.
The court knows about how to bring state’s law into compliance with these principles and again, treat children as children. Juvenile serving life imprisonment should be ending.
Giving Second Chance to Juveniles Serving Life Sentence
Give juveniles a second chance will lead us to a new society. Law and society have recognized the basic difference between children and adults. Children are not mentally developed or think through the impact of their actions. Hence, they must be treated less harshly than adults must.
Some serious limitations for juveniles with many disabilities like mental illness or those who faced abuse. Teenagers often make unclear choices. That choice reflects their inability to accurately consider the result of their actions.
Panel Board Decision for Juveniles Serving Life Sentence
The panel board does not want to diminish the nature of the crimes. Children who commit terrible crimes should be penalized with significant prison time. Even a child who commits an offense is still a child. Society behavior should not compound the problems of youth violence by treating children as an adult in the courtroom.
Sentencing should be age-appropriate and must reflect the particular situation of the child standing before the court. Society’s obligation to protect children requires that we hold chargeable, while also providing for, redemption, rehabilitation, and hope for a second chance.
When it comes to driving cars legally, a felon with a juvenile crime should not be spending time in prison. Currently, there are many felons serving life sentence. These felons are hopeless from the start. Coming from poor families, they fall prey to the bad crowd.
In addition, when stuck in trouble, the court system will not even try to help them get out of the situation. Moreover, the court also lacks in granting parole to them. When the juvenile criminal justice system collects their data to find qualified parole that is a prisoner for large sentences, should be the priority to give the second chance.
Is it possible to reduce juvenile crime?
Giving Juveniles life imprisonment is not the only solution to reduce violent crimes. Many juveniles serving life without parole for a crime committed in their youth. Moreover, these juveniles faced confused childhood; some committed a crime as children, 60% of children suffered from sexual or physical abuse, 40% of children living with mental illness and developmental delays.
In addition, many of these juveniles were first-time offenders when convicted. The Public recognizes that we should treat children in a different way. The public also makes it clear that it does not support life sentences for children. Some people are of the opinion that children who commit murder should not get the option of parole.
However, there are others, who believe that these children should get parole after 25 years. Furthermore, the legislature must weigh public safety and justice in passing the new law. Ending life imprisonment for children and make sure that all children must be treated as children in sentencing properly balances these essential values.
Conclusion
Youth can and do terrible offenses. When they do, should be held accountable and face the consequences. However, children are different from adults, and the punishment imposed for their offenses should reflect their age and development. Both the sentences of youth felonies and their conditions of confinement must adapt to account for young people’s specific needs, vulnerabilities, and capacities to adults, to reflect upon the harm they have caused, and to change.