Life Sentence for Minors
Do you believe minors should receieve life sentences? This very idea was before the Supreme Court. Read the article and post your thoughts.
Do you believe minors should receieve life sentences? This very idea was before the Supreme Court. Read the article and post your thoughts.
January 28th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
I think that if a 16 year old commits a crime such as rape or homicide, it should be allowed that he is sentenced to life without parole. By the time you’re 16 you should know what’s right and what’s wrong. We learn about the law from an early age. You know what’s against it, and you know what you did was wrong. I don’t see how if a 16 year old kills a person, they shouldn’t get away with only a couple year sentence.
February 1st, 2010 at 12:14 pm
I think that even though he raped the elderly woman he shouldn’t be sentenced to life in jail because he is a minor I do how ever i do think that a a few years of jail time would set him straight. what he did was Unforgivable and him getting away with it because he was a minor.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:38 pm
i think that kids shoudlnt recieve life sentences. i mean raping an older lady is disrepectful and shows lack of maturity in this boy. i would give him 5-10years for misconduct and rape
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:50 pm
I don\’t believe that a minor who commited a crime was unaware of the actions he or she was commiting. Even though i believe this, a minor should still not be put in an actual jail and rather a juvinile detention center were others his own age are. An actual jail might do more harm to a minor than good because the criminals there would be an awful influence on him or her. The minor would not learn for thier mistakes and rather, imbrace them.
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:11 pm
I don\’t think that life sentance for minors would be a good thing. They have to rest of their lives to change and if someone decides that they get life then they wont have a life anymore.
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:24 pm
I think that minors getting life sentances is to harsh. No matter what they do and no how bad the crime a life sentance is to hard for a minor. The 13 year old boy who raped an elderly women should not be sentanced to jail at all not at that young age. I think that he should start out in a juvinelle delinquent home and be taken out and put into a prison at 18 or be realeased from the home. The 17 year old should be put into jail for the crime he did. He is only 1 year away from being considered an adult and if they wouldnt think he should be put in jail then put in a juvinelle delinquent home for a year then once he turns 18 put in jail. But i still believe that minors should not be sentanced to life in jail becuase a young person could mature and learn from what they did unlike an adult there old enough that they should know whats right and wrong and i dont think they could mature depeending how old they are. Thats what i think about minors getting life sentances.
February 3rd, 2010 at 7:14 pm
This article doesn\\\’t go into the specific circumstances of the crime, but I believe that if a minor commits a serious crime such as homicide, they should be tried as an adult. If it were accident, it\\\’s a different story, but if it\\\’s an actual homicide, then I don\\\’t think they would change by the time they were an adult.
February 3rd, 2010 at 8:58 pm
I think that if a juvenille is in jail for murder that he should stay in for life because no matter how you look at it he took someones life. Bt for anything else done they should review that persons behavior in the jail and if he hasn\’t done anything wrong he has obviously changed than let him get a second chance. But if they do something worthy of being put in jail again they get life sentence or worse.
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Usually i would feel that this kind of punishment for a minor is outrageous. but the crime that this kid committed was worthy of that sort of punishment. it doesn’t matter how old you are, if you commit a horrible crime like rape you deserve the worse sentence possible.
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Life prison sentences for minors is a very tough debate. I do believe that children could be rehabilitaled especially the younger ones. The age of cut off is questionable. If two kids comit the same crime and one is 18 and 1 day and the other is 17 turing 18 the next day they would have totally different sentences if it ruled by age. I think judges wuld really have to analyse each case by crime and age (if they could be rehabilitated) to make a proper dexision and sentence.
February 4th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
i dont think they should even of how bad the crime was commited. there minors made and made a mistake. it ruins there lives for one thing. the lawyer was right that a minor is different from an adult and its true what he said.
February 5th, 2010 at 11:18 am
I dont think any minor should even be considered for a life sentecence. No matter what they have done. Thier brains aren\\\’t fully developed and cannot understand the idea or action of what they have done. That minor will basically have no life or education if they get a life senctence.
February 11th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
I think this is a tough issue cuz of wat happened but wat he did wasn’t right and still be punished but death and life is out there. Its hard to say cuz hes only 13 and thats ridicoulous y he would do that.
March 11th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
I don not think at 16 years old you should be given a life sentence. This is because they do know what right and wrong is, but at 16 there is a lot of peer pressure, and some could influence them to do something they don\\\’t want to do. I do think they should be punished but not for life
March 23rd, 2010 at 8:13 pm
It’s not like these kids are stupid. They knew what they were doing. The fact that this idea overcame them and made them do this not only should they be in jail but they should be forced to go to therapy.
April 1st, 2010 at 10:17 am
i think if a 16 year old commits a crime like rape or somthing else like that they deserve to have a life sentence because the same law should apple to minors as adults for this law.
April 15th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
i think that it debends on wht they do. If it is a really serouis crime and they are close to 18 then yes. But i think anyone lower then 14 should not get life
April 15th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
I don\’t think that minors should be given life sentences. I think that being young, some people still lack their ability to make good decisions and although some crimes are terrible, a long amount of time in jail can change a person. A mass murderer or a person with repeated assaults or crimes is an exception to the no life sentences because the person obviously knew what they were doing, and have a mental illness that should not be in contact with others.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
First off, raping an elderly woman? The boy obviously has or had some sort of issue. At that day and age most teenagers know whats right and wrong, but don’t fully understand how to actually pursue the right thing. When I think about this from a point of view as if it was one of my friends, then no. I don’t think it would be right in that case. For something horribly done, then yes, lock them away and throw out the key. I think life without parole, is too drastic. Definitively a long enough time but not that long and cruel.
April 17th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
I feel that life is a little extreme for a 13 year old child. I\’m not trying to say that rape is not a serious matter just that at 13 when you are in 6th maybe 7th grade that is the last thing that is on a lot of children\’s minds. if this child is really thinking and committing these acts there is a serious chance that there is something mentally wrong with him and should get help not be rotting in prison for the rest of his life.
April 18th, 2010 at 8:47 am
i usually think that kids should get another chance because they will usually change rather than adults. but i also think that it depends on the crime you commit. if a young boy killed a man i would have to think he would go to jail… debating his case. i dont think their should be an age limit on certain cages.
April 18th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
i think it depends on what the crime they committed was. if it shows they really wont be able to change who they are and become a better person than i think longer sentences are right maybe not life. however for small mistakes that they get caught up in i dont think they should get treated as badly for, unless they keep happening.
April 18th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
i think no matter how old you are you take the same punishment, if you commit a crime you have to do the time, minors or not they should go to jail, maybe not for life but they need to go to jail.
April 21st, 2010 at 7:20 pm
I believe that people deserve second chances, especially a 13 year old boy who doesn’t know any better. People of all ages commit crimes everyday, and don’t even get sentences to life in jail without parole. I think that his punishment is harsh because he’s still young and has his whole life ahead of him. They shouldn’t let this ruin his future..
April 22nd, 2010 at 11:49 pm
Even though this kid is only thirteen, I feel like he was totally aware of what he was doing. I think that this kid got what was coming to him, and like most, he should of thought before acting in such a horrendous activity.
April 23rd, 2010 at 8:41 am
I dont think minors should get life sentances because they are young and not fully mature so they shouldnt go to jail for life unless they commit a murder in cold blood.
May 3rd, 2010 at 12:41 pm
The life sentence for a minor is harsh. I believe if anything he should serve a few years in prison for his crime but not a life time. People do change, but if he’s in prison all his life he’ll never get a chance too.
May 13th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
We all develop a conicous at some point during our young years of life. so very early on we know our right from our wrong, therefore as long as you have that ability you should be able to get any government jail sentance, even death.
May 13th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
No, i do not think minors should get the life sentence. They are young and they don\\\’t really have the ability to make the right choices yet. but also it depends what they do. Like if they kill someone they should get a serious consequence but not the life sentence.
May 18th, 2010 at 11:21 am
It’s the law, any minor who disobeys it, should be punished. But there should be a different punishment to the minors than the adults. Why? Because the adults are mature enough and need to realize what they have done. Minors still have the rest of their lives to live. Also, I feel that it is necessary for the punishment to also be different, the more severe the crime, the longer the punishment should last.
June 1st, 2010 at 8:14 pm
I don’t think they should be sentenced to a life time in jail because the things they have to deal with will be a lot worse. i think they should spend a long time in a juvenile center. they should know what is right and wrong at this age but still might be to young for jail
June 7th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
I dont think that any minor should be given a life sentence. That is just way too harsh, no matter what crime was committed. Minors make mistakes all the time, and they shouldnt have that weight on their shoulders for the rest of their lives, especially something that theyll probably regret doing.
June 7th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
It doesn\’t matter who you are.. how old you may be, or what the situation is. if you committed that very crime, it\’s sick and horrible and you better be getting the punishment deserved. You know what you\’re doing, you chose to do it, nobody forced you to do the crime and if you didn\’t want to then you wouldn\’t have. so in some cases, yes i think it should be for life sentence. not for all, but for some and most, yes. i feel incredibly strong about this.
June 7th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
i believe no matter what age you should be responsible for your actions and be punished. if its not a big crime they still should be punished because they will never learn if they are young. maybe even when they are adults too. and if its a big crime they definitely should get a punishment
June 10th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
most of the time i think that kids should get a ssecond chance compaired to adults because the kids would sometimes take that second change and not to advantage of it. But i guess it all depends on the crime you commit. but if a young boy killed a man then he should go to jail.. thats called murder. there shouldnt be a age limit in cases.
June 10th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
I feel very strongly that minors should not have to face a life sentence. Just because someone made a mistake when they were young doesn’t mean that they can’t change or even learn from their mistakes. If someone made a mistake by committing a crime as a minor, then they should not have to face life sentence. Also, they are treated as minors since they are not yet adults which means they can’t take full responsibility for their actions. It would be pretty sad if a teenager had to spend the rest of their life in jail.
June 11th, 2010 at 8:50 am
This is crazy. Yes teens make bad choices in their life, but you cant just give them life in prison. Teens still have their life ahead of them. If anything at least give them a few years or something to do during their life.The things that have come to this world. People make crazy decisions.
June 13th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
i think he shouldnt receive life sentence. he was only 13 and even though he was starting to grow up he didnt know any better. the elderly probably could of control the kid.
June 17th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
I think that the boy does deserve the punishment he got. I think that by the time your that old you should know right from wrong and should be able to make responsible choices. If he was going to rape an elderly woman he should know that there would be consequences for it and theres no excuse for what he did. I know he may be young but i feel like age doesn’t matter in a situation like this, it shouldnt happen and i think if it does life sentance without parol is a good punishment for it.