The Death Penalty and Juveniles

Introduction: In today’s society, many juveniles are being sent to trial without having the chance of getting a fair trial as anyone else would. Many citizens would see juveniles as dangerous individuals, but in my opinion how a teenager acts at home starts at home. Punishing a child for something that could have been solved at home is something that should not have to get worse by giving them the death penalty. The death penalty should not be imposed on juveniles, because they are still kids, the 8th amendment goes against any citizen being given cruel and unusual punishment, and the death penalty does not bring justice.

Thesis Statement: Death Penalty should not be imposed on juveniles.

1st Main Point; Juveniles are still kids and they are not as developed as adults

• A teenagers mind has not fully developed as much as an adult mind as developed to its fullest mind frame.

1. Often time’s adults do not realize that regardless what the state says a child a child’s mind would not be fully developed until they are in their mid-20 meaning the way they function would be different from the way an adult would operate on a daily to daily basis.

2. A lot of times when teenagers commit crimes they often think well since they are under 18 possibly, they could get sent to juvenile.

3. Adults on the other hand often would be thinking long time when a crime is committed and how much it could affect their record for a certain amount of time.

4. According to Liz Ryan, “adolescent brain research shows that children’s brains are not developing well into their early 20s and that youth do not have all the mental capacities that adults do” (Ryan).

5. Many adults would often say they have reached an age where they should know right from wrong but in that case, I could disagree for the simple fact if a parent placed their younger child in the world on their own, they would not survive.

6. How a younger child acts starts off at home, because if they are not getting the amount of attention, they need then they start doing certain things that they know is not right.

2nd Main Point; the 8th amendment goes against any individual receiving cruel and unusual punishment.

• The suspect’s family gets hurt in returned

1. When murder is committed some criminals often are sentenced to the death penalty that takes a lot of money, because many states use lethal injections so that the death is not painful.

2. When the death penalty is happening, many criminals was still feeling the pain of their heart rate stopping and because of that it makes the state look bad that they were cruel enough to not make the death of a criminal less painful.

3. When going to trial not many lawyers often think about the suspect’s family and how much this could affect their family in the long run.

4. According to the 8th amendment, “every individual has the given right to be heard, given notice, and a judicial decision with a stated rationale that the state believes will help the suspect not want to commit another crime” (Legal Information Institute).

5. Some states just focus on the bad a criminal has done and not if they have tried to get better.

6. Many states have failed to try to help a criminal and would just rather sentence him to be killed by the government hoping that another citizen would think twice about murdering someone.

3rd Main Point; the death penalty does not bring justice

• The death penalty only brings revenge upon the suspect’s family

1. When crime happens to families a lot of times, they always think about what if this criminal gets out and does the crime again and what sentence would be best to ensure that they will not do the crime again.

2. Once a decision is made that the death penalty has been given to a criminal it cannot be taken away and not many families realize that even though they lost a family member that the suspect family will be losing one as well.

3. According to Los Angeles Time, “many families felt that taking a life does not fill the void, but after the execution the family starts to sympathize with killer’s family because of shared trauma” (The Times Editorial Board).

4. Many families know what illegal crime someone has done should not be tolerated, but the death penalty only causes families to want revenge for the death by the government.

5. Even though the death penalty might scare a lot of people, but when someone is sentenced to death it makes a lot of people angry knowing that there was another way to show people that committing crime will only result in jail time.

Conclusion

To conclude, the death penalty should not be imposed on juveniles for many reasons than the ones stated. The death penalty not only affects families, but it affects the communities. Giving a juvenile the death penalty shows that the state does not give the juvenile a chance to see if they could possibly receive therapy or another second option. No family wants to experience the hurt that their family member was killed, but no one should have any feeling that their child was not treated fairly to receive a fair trial to receive the help that they need to get better mentally. The death penalty being imposed on juveniles is wrong, because a juvenile’s mind is not as developed as an adult, the 8th amendment goes against any cruel and unusual punishment, and the death penalty does not bring any justice. Often time’s families are too hurt to think about anyone else but their family and it is understandable, but many lawyers do not inform the families on the proper grieving way so that they do not hurt another family in return.

In today’s society, many juveniles are being sent to trial without having the chance of getting a fair trial as anyone else would. Many citizens would see juveniles as dangerous individuals, but in my opinion how a teenager acts at home starts at home. Punishing a child for something that could have been solved at home is something that should not have to get worse by giving them the death penalty. The death penalty should not be imposed on juveniles, because they are still kids, the 8th amendment goes against any citizen being given cruel and unusual punishment, and the death penalty does not bring justice.

To begin with, often time’s adults do not realize that regardless what the state says for the age that a child is considered an adult, a child’s mind would not be fully developed until they are in their mid-20 meaning the way they function would be different from the way an adult would operate on a daily to daily basis. A lot of times when teenagers commit crimes they often think well since they are under 18 possibly, they could get sent to juvenile. Adults on the other hand often would be thinking long time when a crime is committed and how much it could affect their record for a certain amount of time. According to Liz Ryan, “adolescent brain research shows that children’s brains are not developing well into their early 20s and that youth do not have all the mental capacities that adults do” (Ryan).Many adults would often say they have reached an age where they should know right from wrong but in that case, I could disagree for the simple fact if a parent placed their younger child in the world on their own, they would not survive. How a younger child acts starts off at home, because if they are not getting the amount of attention, they need then they start doing certain things that they know is not right.

Next, when murder is committed some criminals often are sentenced to the death penalty that takes a lot of money, because many states use lethal injections so that the death is not painful. When the death penalty is happening, many criminals was still feeling the pain of their heart rate stopping and because of that it makes the state look bad that they were cruel enough to not make the death of a criminal less painful. When going to trial not many lawyers often think about the suspect’s family and how much this could affect their family in the long run. According to the 8th amendment, “every individual has the given right to be heard, given notice, and a judicial decision with a stated rationale” (Fourteenth Amendment). Some states just focus on the bad a criminal has done and not if they have tried to get better. Many states have failed to try to help a criminal and would just rather sentence him to be killed by the government hoping that another citizen would think twice about murdering someone.

Last, when crime happens to families a lot of times, they always think about what if this criminal gets out and what sentence would be best to ensure that they will not commit a crime again. Once a decision is made that the death penalty has been given to a criminal it cannot be taken away and not many families realize that even though they lost a family member that the suspect family will be losing one as well. According to Los Angeles Time, “many families felt that taking a life does not fill the void, but after the execution the family starts to sympathize with killer’s family because of shared trauma” (The Times Editorial Board). Many families know what illegal crime someone has done should not be tolerated, but the death penalty only causes families to want revenge for their family member death by the government. Even though the death penalty might scare a lot of people, but when someone is sentenced to death it makes a lot of people angry knowing that there was another way to show people that committing crime will only result in jail time.

To conclude, the death penalty should not be imposed on juveniles for many reasons than the ones stated. The death penalty not only affects families, but it affects the communities. Giving a juvenile the death penalty shows that the state does not give the juvenile a chance to see if they could possibly receive therapy or another second option. No family wants to experience the hurt that their family member was killed, but no one should have any feeling that their child was not treated fairly to receive a fair trial to receive the help that they need to get better mentally. The death penalty being imposed on juveniles is wrong, because a juvenile’s mind is not as developed as an adult, the 8th amendment goes against any cruel and unusual punishment, and the death penalty does not bring any justice. Many time’s families are too hurt to think about anyone else but their family and it is understandable, but many lawyers do not inform the families on the proper grieving way so that they do not hurt another family in return.

WORKS CITED

1. “Fourteenth Amendment.” LII / Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, 14 Dec. 2017, www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fourteenth_amendment_0.
2. Ryan, L. “Kids Are Not Adults! And Trying Them as Adults Is Both Inhumane and Ineffective.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2 June 2010, www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2010/06/03/Kids-are-not-adults-And-trying-them-as-adults-is-both-inhumane-and ineffective/stories/201006030260.
3. “The Death Penalty Doesn’t Bring Closure so Much as It Extends Trauma.” Los Angeles Time, The Times Editorial Board, 31 Mar. 2017, www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-death-penaty-dekraai-becerra-20170331-story.html.

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