Friday, March 16, 2012

Give juvenile convicts a shot at hope

Imagine being locked up for life when you are only fourteen? You would not know any life outside of a jail cell and be trapped inside of a cell 24 hours a day.  Next week the , "Supreme Court will be confronted with two cases that question whether juveniles convicted of murder may be locked away forever, without even a possibility of parole" and it is a heated debate. One boy is convicted because two of his friends went in to rob a video store when he waited outside, but the clerk was shot and he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parol. Another case involves a fourteen year old brutally beating his neighbor with a baseball bat and then setting the house on fire, making it impossible for the immobilized victim to escape the flames. One case involves a boy who made a wrong decision, but did not kill the man himself, and the other involves a truly disturbed person, but the court's decision will affect them both. 
This article is a part of a country wide debate that involves 79 boys between the ages of 13-14 and their wrongdoings. I believe that if at that young age, if you are capable of capital murder, then you should be locked away for life, they are a danger to humanity. This article showed both sides to the story and was extremely interesting to read. 



http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/give-juvenile-convicts-a-shot-at-hope/2012/03/15/gIQA3QZ2ES_story.html

1 comment:

  1. I agree that it sucks to be locked away for life as a teenager... and I think that depending on the kids involvement of the situation, parole should be an option. However I agree that if someone is singlehandedly capable of murder at 14 years old, consequences should be harsh. I think its interesting that its "involves 79 boys between the ages of 13-14 and their wrongdoings. " BOYS. Just a thought.

    ReplyDelete