Introduction
"Life in prison without the possibility of parole." That is a phrase that should scare
anyone to the depths of every fiber of their being. Optimistically its not the end of the world. You
are still able to live on this earth and have a certain number of privileges that are granted. You
will still have the ability to find small amounts of happiness scattered throughout the rest of your
days behind a locked door. You will have healthcare for when you get sick, and you will even
have the ability to find God if you will and figure out how to save your soul if that’s still a
possibility. Pessimistically, you will never have a family, a wife or husband or just the freedom to
move around this world without a care in the world. One life has completely shattered while the
other one will pick up different pieces and start a new puzzle with a new picture. Now what if it's
a Juvenile? In an article written in 2012 called "Does Sentencing a Juvenile to Life in Prison
Without the Possibility of Parole Constitute Cruel and Unusual Punishment? " By Thomas J.
Hickey, I will summarize the main debates for and against weather or not it is cruel and unusual
punishment to give a juvenile a life sentence.
Part 1 – Summary
Hickey starts the article by talking about how juveniles and adults should be treated
differently and sentenced differently. This all depends based on what the goal of the penal system
is. "A strong case can be made that a juvenile offender, who is less mature and lacks the
experiences of an adult criminal, is morally less “blameworthy.” Another reason would be that
adults are incorrigible while juveniles still have hope to turn their lives around. Juveniles tend to
be more emotional, irrational, careless and immature which tends to lean in a direction of
someone that doesn’t think too much about their actions unlike an adult would. All of the
previous reasons would lean in a direction that giving a juvenile a life sentence does not satisfy
the goals that the penal system wants to adhere to for the youth.
The next question is if it violates the 8th amendment of the constitution under cruel and
unusual punishment? When they analyzed the supreme court, they came up with 4 factors that
they would use to determine if it was indeed cruel and unusual. The first factor was if it inflicts
unnecessary and wanton pain, such as beating someone physically. The second factor was if it
was unacceptable in society such as doing something that violates human dignity. The third
factor is if it is disproportionate to the offense for which it was imposed, like a long-term prison
sentence for having a joint of marijuana. The fourth and last factor was if it was racially
discriminatory such as death penalties for only a certain race. The supreme court justices didn’t
all agree on the ruling of whether this was cruel or unusual punishment, but the majority said that
it was because of the proportionality of the 8th amendment thus violating the constitution.
Part 2 – Reaction
Our country continues to fill up its prisons with more and more citizens. In the current era
we have a lot of children that are without parents. One could argue that they are both equally
important in a juvenile's life, but statistically it is the father that is more needed for a stable home
and a stable child. The more that homes are filled with single mothers and the fathers are absent
the more we have young men without father figures or role models, that end up not knowing how
to become men and have values morals and ethics that will guide them into a successful
adulthood.
It's very difficult for me when it comes to the youth. While I would hope that many
youths can turn their lives around, I fear that some of them will continue down a path and just
end up killing when they're an adult as well. Psychology is very important on determine the
mental stability of the juvenile and weather or not they should be let out. I would rather 10 kids
get out and don’t turn their live around than to have one kid stuck in prison forever when he
would have turned his life around if he had been released.
While I do believe in forgiveness, I also believe in justice and fairness. If a child takes the
life of another, it's done and proven beyond a reasonable doubt and they did it with malice and
pre-mediation, they should be judged and sentenced accordingly.
Conclusion
I did enjoy this article and felt it is relevant in the time we live now more than ever. Our
country is an amazing place to be, and a big part of that is because of the justice system that we
have. It's not perfect but there isn’t a better one in the world. We have a lot of work to do with
our youth, the youth are our future and if we ruin them, the future becomes bleak.
