In today’s justice system their a difficult decision. One of the most controversial topic being whether to try juveniles as an adult or not. I recently read a book called Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. Bryan was a young attorney when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, which is a practice that is dedicated to helping defend poor people, people that are wrong convicted, and those who is imprison of our criminal justice system. His first case was about a young man Walter McMillian who was sentenced to die for murder he didn’t commit. Bryan worries about these foretelling stories of juveniles who grew up poor, live in abusive home, or living on the streets. These people he wrote about were very young at the time and committed a crime and sentence to life in prison. I believe teenagers shouldn’t be trial as an adult and they should considered the circumstances some of these children have to live in and encounter.
The ideal age for a teenager to be trial as an adult should be eighteen. In the state of Pennsylvania the age is 10. I say this because at this age they’re young adults. They should know right from wrong at the the age 18. So they should be held accountable for their actions at this age. Because below that age teens lack maturity. 17 and younger don’t have really life experience and they aren’t told about their choices (the consequence of what they what get for committing a crime.) Kids can live an abusive environment, neglect, parents are alcoholic. Which can leave the kids to make poor decisions that may result in jail time.
In Bryan Stevenson book he talked about a man name Joe Sullivan who was wrongfully condemned for a non-homicide crime at thirteen. Joe Sullivan was a thirteen-year old boy with mental disabilities who read a a first grade level. He was repeatedly abused by his father and suffered neglect. From age ten until him being arrested, Joe had no stable home. He was on the streets often, where police stopped him for violations. Joe was never given a chance for change and he was labeled at age thirteen as a “serial” or “violent recidivist” by prosecutors.
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Many of these clients Bryan handled was confused about their behavior. Many of these people mature into adults who is much more aware of their actions; they were capable of making good decisions. They all changed in some way, and weren’t like how they were before when they were young. Which in fact made them different from the clients who committed crime as adults. As of 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. Alabama the federal government and states is required to take into thought the circumstances of every juvenile in deciding an appropriate sentence. Montgomery v. Louisiana, a 2016 decision make sure that the decision applies retroactively. A life sentence without the possibility of parole would be considered unconstitutional.
How can they evaluate without understanding the lives these children have been forced into. They shouldn’t sentence teenagers as an adult because They have no control of being in the circumstances they are born into. The experiences of approximately 2,100 of people serving juvenile life sentences varies, but they are often cause by things they experience as a child with a lot exposure to violence; some were victims of abuse. Kuntrell Jackson and Evan Miller both were fifteen, grew up with a not stable home.
Evan Miller was a trouble kid; he tried to commit suicide four times at the age of six. Kuntrell Jackson family was full of violence. His mother and grandmother had shot other people. His mother and brother were sent to prison. In 2012, The Sentencing Project released some information from a survey of people who were sentenced to life in prison as juveniles. 79% witnessed violence in their homes regularly, 47% were physically abused, and 80% of girls reported histories of physical abuse and 77% of girls reported histories of sexual abuse.
All states should abolished teenagers be tried as an adult without the possibility of parole. Some of These children don’t know the crime they are committing. The brain is more developed when your much older and you are able to understand the cause and effect of your actions. When a crime is committed they charge kids as adults. It’s not the child fault for the choice they make. Simply the question is what environment where they put in for them to make that choice is committing a crime. Laws that send juveniles to prison are cruel and unjust. These adult prisons is some cases are harming for minors. There was story told in Bryan Stevenson book where a child was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This child was force to do things he didn’t want to do. These defendants in these cases are not abnormal. We have to remember that Adults are not children
