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Tyson Latzen
Mrs. Bowyer
Expos- per.4
2/14/19
Juveniles serving life

In the supreme court, it was decided that a juvenile who commits a heinous crime could

not be sentenced to life in prison because it violated the eighth amendments ban on cruel and

unusual punishments. Yet in California, we see a lot of adolescent teens getting into criminal

activities and being charged as adults with life without parole. These children are being

wrongfully charged as adults and being criminalized or seen as something to fear, even though

children are extremely vulnerable and can be influenced by anything happening around them.

They are still immature and don’t fully understand the risks and consequences of breaking the

law, which is why so many of them are having their lives ruined by receiving adult life

sentences. This totally robs any chance for these confused children to turn their lives around and

become productive members of society.

Since there has been such an influx in teen criminal cases, courts are becoming extremely

loose in their determination of a children's charge and an adults charge in these childrens cases.

In Lundstrom’s article, it explains that “the bigger the crime, the more eager we are to call them

adults”(Lundstrom 87). This is overwhelmingly true, the court system for juveniles are more

likely to give a teenager life for a serious crime. The juvenile justice system is painting a picture

that, “we’ve created this image that teenagers are something to be feared”(Lundstrom 87).

Society has made this stereotype because of the fact that we are giving them adult charges. If the

community didn't just look at the severity of the case and looked at what the child's surroundings

are like and teach them a better way, we wouldn't have this view of young criminals who are
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getting life sentences because they are terrible people and should never be let back into society.

We need to be able to give their young changing minds a chance at redemption.

Their young changing minds also play a role in why juveniles shouldn't give juveniles

life sentences. These children haven't even finished developing yet. They are still very immature

and act based of instinct and impulse, along with not having a full grasp on the gravity of

breaking the law and the consequences that follow. This is why kids are “In terms of cognitive

development, as research on the human brain has shown… any other young teen is far from

adulthood”(Thompson 89). Thompson’s research on the adolescent brain scientifically proves

that they aren’t fully aware of the magnitude of the crime that they commited. A young person's

brain is a lot like their body around their teen years, their bodies are changing and they are going

through a very influential time in their life. Internally in the teenagers brain, “cells and

connection are only being lost in the areas controlling impulses, risk taking, and self

control”(Thompson 89). Thompsons research gives us a huge incite on what is happening inside

a juveniles head. They are not fully able to think out their actions so they act based off impulse,

which explains why so many kids are getting criminal cases. If the law understands that the

child's brain is underdeveloped, why do judges persist on giving them the adult charge of life

without parole, when adults know what they are doing when committing the crime and children

do not fully understand. Along with giving them an unfair charge, we take away any chance of

them being rehabilitated and changed from their old ways.

Juvenile criminals who are charged as adults and given life without parole are having

their only chance at help taken away from them, like in Garingers experience with juvenile

facilities, “They were denied access to education and rehabilitation programs and left without
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help or hope”(Garinger 93). Garinger is a retired juvenile court judge and knows first hand that

when kids are charged as adults that they do not receive any sort of help. This just makes the kid

loose hope and not want to change which is where some people say that juvenile criminals are

some of the worst offenders. Garinger disagrees, she says that, “juvenile offenders cannot with

reliability be classified among the worst offenders, they are less mature, more vulnerable to peer

pressure, cannot escape dangerous environments and their character is still in

formation”(Garinger 93). Garingers claim is correct because how can someone be labeled as the

worst criminal offenders when they aren’t even fully developed and are so vulnerable. The

children are physically unable to be completely incontrol of their actions that come from peer

impulse. Let alone the fact that juvenile and adult systems will not allow them to work towards

fixing their past mistakes and improve their future.

In conclusion, we need to allow the mislead children to right their wrongs and become a

better individual who can contribute to society, instead of keeping them locked up for life

because of one immature mistake they made when underdeveloped. These children don't deserve

to be criminalized and have huge life ruining sentences being thrown at them. Young adolescents

should be protected from these punishments. In the US constitution the 8th amendment clearly

states that we will not use cruel or unusual punishment and throwing kids in jail for life should

fall underneath the 8th amendments protection.

Word count: 953

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Work cited

Garinger, Gail. “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences.” ​New York Times​ 15 Mar.

2012, New York ed

Lundstrom, Marjie. “Kids are kids-until they commit crimes.” Sacramento Bee 1 Mar.

2001

Thompson, Paul. “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains.”​ Sacramento Bee​ 25 May 2001