...enough and punishing them as adults is cruel, these teenagers should have the same consequences as adults who commit heinous crimes, because teenagers are criminals regardless of their young age. Studies have argued that the brain stops growing at age twenty five. Therefore an adult’s brain is fully developed, while a teenager’s is in the process of development. In the article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains,” Paul Thompson states, “A massive loss of brain tissue occurs in the teen years.” Even Though this statement could be true, this does not mean all teenagers are going around enacting crimes. The massive loss tissue should not be used as an excuse to let teenagers commit crimes without serious consequences. Teenagers...
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...just instincts. Free to grow and add things to your canvas. Teens come to life pure as snow, our parents are our first mentors and teachers of life. They influence most of our actions growing up. Some have to face the harsh reality of a brutal life early due to the lack of shielding from parents, slowly our canvases are tainted into dark colors. The life of those unfortunate teens mold them, every aspect of them. Without realizing malice is being nurtured in the darkest corner of their thoughts, inevitably teens like this that go on without help will likely turn to crimes. Some of these teens commit horrendous crimes and the question is, what should the justice system do? Some individuals will suggest treating them as adults since they were aware of their crime but is that the right punishment? Should society just disregard humanity and lock these teens up for the good of everyone else? While I believe teens that commit heinous crimes should be punished I also strongly believe their age should be put into account when deciding their punishment. Teens although they’re aware of their actions are still lacking growth in their brain. “Frontal lobes, which inhibit our violent passions, rash actions, and regulate our emotions, are vastly immature throughout teenage years.”(Thompson, Paul 7). The study that Thompson’s research group conducted gives some insights as to what happens to the brain during teenage years, teens like this might make conscious mistakes that they will regret...
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...Are juveniles the same as adults, should they be sentenced to life in prison? The Supreme court has always been arguments about whether juveniles should be sentenced to life in prison as the same way adults are sentenced. The Supreme Court, on June 25, 2012 ruled that juveniles who have committed murder could not be sentenced to life in prison because it violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. However, four justices strongly disagree, arguing that mandatory sentences reflected the will of American society that heinous crime committed by juveniles should have the punishment to always be sentenced to life in prison. I strongly agree with the Supreme Court that juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison. Age is a very big difference between an adult and a juvenile as in how they act, talk, and react....
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...old girl tragically ends at the hands of a young boy. The court convicted Lionel Tate of first degree murder for beating the 48-pound girl, and sentenced him to life in prison. This punishment was a rather harsh judgment many in the community argue against today. Instead of incarcerating him for life, what other options are available? As teen violence continues to plague the nation, many people wonder if rehabilitation is an effective method for deterring future occurrences. Twelve-year old Lionel Tate took the life of a young girl named Tiffany Eunick. Lionel’s mother, a Florida Highway Patrol officer, was sleeping upstairs though she was responsible for babysitting Tiffany. The mother left the children watching television and playing together downstairs unattended. During horse play, Lionel begins to re-enact moves he saw watching wrestling. The 160-pound boy was responsible for cuts, bruises, fractured skull, lacerated liver, broken ribs and internal hemorrhaging on young Tiffany Eunick. Certainly the parents of the deceased child will want to see justice served for the loss of their loved one. Stories surface daily about a teen committing some sort of crime. A heart wrenching reality that many people will either themselves face, or know someone who has or will experience. The epidemic of teen violence is rapidly increasing; Statistics say youth under the age of 18 were arrested for nearly 1561 homicides in 2000 (Fox, Zawitz 2002). Controversies regarding if...
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...When people think of juveniles they think rude, selfish, and growing up too fast. Now, think of what they say when a juvenile kills an innocent person, let alone if it was their own parent, another teen, or just a random person in the street. They would say that juvenile was raised wrong, heartless, and think they are better than anybody else. What if that teen didn’t know what she or he was doing at the moment of the crime? What if that teen was going through something unbreakable at the time and doesn’t know how to control their emotions or mind. More than 25 percent of people severing life without parole who were convicted of felony murder or accomplice liability as children. In America, there are 10,000 children that are held in adult prisons on any given...
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...Should Teens Be Tried as Adults? In 1944, George Stinney Jr. was the first 14-year-old to be sent to an adult prison. He was accused of murder and sentenced to death almost a year later. Juvenile delinquents should not be sent to adult prison systems because their brains are not fully developed as to that of an adult, they are at high risk of physical harm at the hands of other inmates, and might later be denied employment due to an adult criminal record. Around 250,000 teens are tried or sentenced as adults in the U.S.A. every year, and nearly 10,000 per day. As a matter of fact, the majority of these teens are charged with non-violent offenses. Teens should not be tried as adults because their brains are not fully developed. American Academy...
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... and is about three juveniles who was sent to the Sylmar Juvenile Prison for the horrendous crimes that they had committed. This film also talks about the SB 260 law that was put into place by the California State Legislators. The main theme (s) in this movie is about how juveniles who commits adult crimes can also be treated like an adult doing their hearing or trials in court. It also talks about the (SB 260 law ( Senate Bill Law) that gives these juveniles another chance at life outside of the prison walls. Juan Gomez, Antonio Hernandez and Jarad Nova are three Juveniles who faced years in prison. Even...
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...Greg Ousley, a 14 year old boy who killed his parents. After serving 19 years in a state prison he has come to realize what he has done. Greg says that he committed the crime because he was missing out on the attention his parents didn’t give. I feel sympathy for Greg, I would feel the same way as he felt if I was being neglected. Do you agree with young adolescents being put away for life in prison? I disagree, teens at a young age are immature seeking ways to impress friends. Most grow up in a bad environment; as a result, they get into trouble, losing chances to have a positive memorable childhood. In the article “Kids are Kids Until they Commit Crimes” written by Marjie Lundstorm, she states “And the bigger the crime, the more eager we are to call them adults.” I agree because teens that commit crimes are still at that stage where they are immature. Marjie also stated “research suggest that adolescents squeezed through the adult system are more likely to come out as violent career criminals than similar kids handled on the juvenile side”. That being said, i believe teens are capable of making a better person. Teens snap and are frustrated of being pushed...
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...that fights break out in prisons among inmates. Due to their situation, and reasoning for being placed in prison in the first place, this is actually very common. Prison systems generally run off a punishment system. If an inmate has a tendency to start fights, or other dangerous situations, then they are most likely going to be either taken to a higher security prison, lose privileges, or in some cases receive more severe punishments in regards to their time in prison, and sentencing. Due to the fact that juveniles are targeted more frequently in adult prison systems, they tend to have a larger self-defense tract record. In many cases, juveniles are punished for being involved in a fight, that originated with an adult...
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...think that the voting age should be lowered or raised. Also if felons should be allowed to vote in prison. The typical voting age is eight teen. Nearly six million Americans cannot vote due to disenfranchisement laws. I think that the age for voting should stay eight teen. Also felons should not be able to vote because they can’t be trusted. Do you think that the age should stay at eight teen? The twenty sixth amendment ratified in 1971 establishes that eight teen year olds as the minimum voting age for both state and federal elections. Did you know that the original thirteen American colonies mostly set the voting age at twenty one reflecting the British law? Only seventy nine...
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...First of all, juveniles should not be tried as adults and punished with a sentence to life in prison because of their immaturity and the inability to take up their responsibilities. As Elena Kagan stated, “Mandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological age and its hallmark features.” A juvenile is defined as child or teen at age 18 or younger, who is not yet old enough to be regarded as an adult. Studies show that human’s brain is not fully developed until an age of 25: “In fact, recent research has found that adult and teen brains work differently. Adults think with… the part of the brain that responds to situations with good judgment... Teens process information with the amygdala. This is the emotional...
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...Trends in Cybercrime-“Sextortion” in Teens and Children Curtis M. Styles CJA/570 April 23, 2012 Ray Gagne Trends in Cybercrime-"Sextortion" in Teens and Children Electronic methods of committing crimes in society today, is generally a new phenomenon. Modern crimes directed against the operation of computer technology itself, presents new crimes that are as new as contemporary technology. The Internet has opened a variety of new rooms for cybercriminals to commit cyber-based terrorist attempts, computer intrusions, and major cyberfrauds. Cyberextortion is an outsider threat designed to obtain money, products, or favorable considerations from an organization or individuals by using illegal means of persuasion related to computer intrusion (Cybercrime Investigation & Intelligence, 2012). This paper addresses the relatively new form of sexual exploitation called “sextortion” that has emerged on the cybersex crime scene recently, and its affect upon teenagers and children. In addition, the paper addresses the dangers of scams associated with “sextortion”, its criminal profile, law enforcement initiatives to combat “sextortion”, and the penalties for committing these types of crimes. “Sextortion” is a method of sexual exploitation in which individuals are extorted with nude images of themselves shared online over the Internet. Texting has become the modern day method of communication among teens and children, and in the case of “sextortion” these images are displayed...
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...At 15 years old you are not able to drink, drive, vote, or even see an R-rated movie by yourself because you are not classified as an adult. If this is the case, why are juveniles tried as adults when they commit a crime? Every year there is an estimated 250,000 youth tried in the United States as an adult. Although no crime should go unpunished, there are many contributing factors that states why a minor shouldn’t be sentenced as an adult. The fact that most adolescents become repeat offenders, they are not able to survive in prison, and the court is basically ruining their lives are just a few examples of why they shouldn’t be tried as an adult. To begin with, 66 percent of the youth in the United States that are sentencved to prison become...
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...In 2012, The Sentencing Project released results from a survey of people sentenced to life in prison as juveniles and found the defendants in other cases were not uncommon. Seventy-nine percent witnessed violence in their homes regularly, 32% grew up in public housing, and 40% had been enrolled in special education classes. Fewer than half of the prisoners were attending school at the time of their offense, 47% were physically abused, and 77% of girls reported histories of sexual abuse (“Juvenile Life Without Parole”). Is a child who has been through so much mental trauma at such an age of there life deserve to be put in prison for life? “In the U.S. each year, children as young as 13 are sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison...
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...being locked for 23 hours a day, committed suicide at the young of 22 (Obama, 2016). Because of juvenile incarceration, a boy was sent to the path of mental destruction. The horrific repercussion of these kind of detentions can have decades of negative effects on a teen, and should be ban in all states of this free country. Punitive segregation prison is a devastating place for adolescence, it has been link to mental illnesses like depression, PTSD, and schizophrenia. Minors in and out of prison are more likely to commit suicide and harmful acts to themselves even after being released. The U.S. Department of Justice has called prolonged juvenile isolation “cruel” and “unusual punishment” (YORK, 2014). With that in mind what will happen if we present the cruel act to a developing brain? “Even at the age of 16 the brain is still developing,” said National Institute of Mental Health (Nat). Stress afflicted to teens during this precious time causes mental problems (Nat). The vicious abuse in prison makes teens develop differently; mentally and physically setting setback for them in all course of life. Aside from the long lasting mental complication for minors out of prison, they are also mistreated and forgotten in prison. When requested to reveal the numbers of juvenile in Riker Island, officials at the facility ignored the statement for months and denied all tour to the facility,” I have to make clear to you at this that the Dept of Correction will not be participating on your...
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