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Kaetlin Rich

Ms. Moore

Expository Reading and Writing

28 February, 2017

The Difference Between Justice and Revenge

Society holds children at a high standard considering that they will soon become the

future generation of our nation but what do we do when these adolescents start to commit serious

crimes? Prior to June 25, 2012 the justice system had been allowed to sentence any adolescent

under the age of 18 to life in prison without the possibility of parole; however, this all changed

after the supreme court majority ruled that this ultimately violated the eighth amendments ban

on cruel and unusual punishment. When a adolescent is tried as an adult many things are

disregarded such as the juvenile's mental maturity, impulse control, inability to understand the

consequences of their crime, and family/ social life. Sentencing adolescents to life in prison

without the opportunity for parole takes away everything including the chance to ever be

rehabilitated. Research has shown that adolescents to not have the same mental or emotional

maturity as that of an adult; therefore, sentencing them to a life in prison is a cruel and unusual

punishment.

The reason why sentencing a child to life in prison without the chance of parole is cruel

and unusual is because they are being stripped of their basic human rights for the rest of their life

without fully understanding why they will spend their entire life in prison. It is when the

adolescent grows up that they will start to understand the severity of their crime and process

through it. According to Paul Thompson and his article, Startling Finds on Teenage Brains,
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Thompson discusses immaturity evident in minors as well as a massive loss in brain tissue that

occurs in the teenage years. The reason Thompson makes it a point to note the loss of brain

tissue is because brain cells and connections are only being lost in the areas controlling

impulses, risk-taking, and self-control. and can affect our frontal lobes which inhibit our

violent passions, rash actions, and regulate our emotions, are vastly immature throughout the

teenage years. This is important to take into consideration when dealing with these adolescents

because it is clear that they are unaware of the weakness of their mental and emotional maturity

as well as the inability to think rationally and clearly.

In some cases recurring trauma, such as abuse, can be a huge reason why these teens

snap. When a child is abused either physically or mentally, there can be long term and

permanent effects on the child that will remain with them for the rest of their life. Murder is not a

normal response to anything; however, it is important to take into consideration the

psychological and cognitive abilities of the adolescent. According to the article Serial killers

and Childhood Abuse: Is There a Link? by Fiona Guy, While evidence has shown not all

victims of child abuse grow up to be abusers, criminals and murderers there is a heightened risk

associated with childhood trauma and anti-social behaviours for personality disorders and

criminal activity This quote expresses how abuse can have a huge impact on the mental and

emotional development of the child.

There are many reasons why adolescents should not be sentenced to mandatory life in

prison and these point need to be taken into consideration before the justice system decides for

fail these children any further. Adolescents are significantly more immature mentally compared

to and adult and therefor they should not be punished to the severity of an adult. If these children
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were to be put into prison then the justice system would have failed them and it would not be

considered justice, instead they would be serving revenge.

Work Cited

Guy, Fiona. "Serial Killers And Childhood Abuse: Is There A Link?" Crime

Traveller. N.p., 15 Feb. 2017. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

https://www.crimetraveller.org/2015/07/serial-killers-childhood-abuse/