The Supreme Court is hearing a case to decide whether sentencing minors to life in prison without a chance for parole constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, especially if the youth committed a crime other than murder.
Does anyone have any opinions on this?
I tend to agree with the lawyers who are arguing against life imprisonment for minors. I find it interesting that our government believes minors do not have the logic and reasoning ability necessary to vote in elections until the age of 18, but a child of 13 has the logic and reasoning ability to commit a crime and be sentenced to life in prison. Perhaps our government should spend less money on incarcerating such people and more money on making them productive members of society.
The article can be found here:
http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/5929
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I agree with Lindsay, there is defintely more options out there to get these minors punishment and learn. There is a point where one deintely deserves this life in prison sentence but i think it depends on what they have committed, how many times they have been charged and if they had attempted to recieve help or served their punishment
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to disagree completely. A crime is a crime - not matter what age a persion is when they commit it and should be punishable accordingly.
ReplyDeleteIt is my opinion that the sentencing/punishments now days are not severe enough for any age, hence, there is no learning nor accountability for actions.
As a child, I knew right from wrong. The children of today's society so too know right from wrong. Many simply choose to ignore it.
There is no reason on earth why children of today should be given allowances of leniency for criminal actions. It will only enable them to be out on the streets earlier to commit more (if not worse) criminal acts.
If a child is going to begin down the path of criminal activity, chances are they it will continue unless proper measures are put into place to prevent it from further occurances. A life sentence for this type of criminal activity will certainly be a form of prevention.
i Agree with lindsay. i have to say that a child does not know everything that is right and wrong when they are that age. if anything where were the parents when this happened. They ahould be the one with the sentence, since they did not teach thier child what was good and bad and how to react in certain situations. If a child is put under so much presure and was not taught how to handle it soemthing bad is bound to happen, this might not be murder, but might be somehting a bit close. So, children should not be sentenced to life in prison it is disgusing to even think of such a thing.
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