The panelists at the Life Imprisonment for Juveniles panel were Beth Relyea, Andy Strauss, and David Jacques. Generally, Beth stated that she was more forgiving of juveniles she felt that minors should be given second chances in court and should not be given life sentences. Andy, a lawyer and David, a parole officer felt slightly differently. Both thought that in some situations life sentences are necessary to protect the general public. When asked about the death penalty Beth immediately responded no, David said yes, and Andy said to protect society sometimes it is needed. These answers reflected on the level harshness of their beliefs on other issues such as lifetime imprisonment of juveniles. Personally, I agree with Andy, sometimes certain cases truly do threaten the public and for that we must prevent further crimes on innocent people and sentence some juveniles to life in prison. That being said the crime must fit the punishment, the court should give the very least punishment to a juvenile that can protect the public anymore than that violates the 8th amendment. All panelists agreed that rehabilitation is an important factor of the Juvenile Justice System, Andy went further to say that when sentencing lifetime imprisonment to a Juvenile all members in court should agree that the juvenile is beyond rehabilitation on top of being a threat to society. I agree with this as well, and for juveniles not being sentenced to life in prison but are still being charged rehabilitation is key to prevent possibly more juveniles in prison for the rest of their lives.
You have a very good point about your pros and con’s for juvenile’s life in prison, and good detail about the teenage brain still forming, your blog has lots of good information on telling someone about juveniles having a life sentence. After reading your trial search I agree that juveniles who did non homicidal crimes shouldn’t be in an a life sentence, and that it is a waste of money for the government to keep these juveniles in prison because it costs around 2,752,000 dollars for a single prisoners life.
ReplyDeleteWhat is also great about your blog is that you say they need punishment but nothing harsh like being locked for life, instead you say they should be reeducated and given another chance in society.