Juveniles Deserve Life Sentences Analysis

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Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan claims that if a juvenile is granted “life without parole”, this action violates the eighth amendment and disregards the juvenile’s age, level of maturity, and other factors which could influence the juvenile’s behavior. This is true, for the brain of a juvenile is not as developed as an adult’s. It cannot be predicted if the convicted juvenile will forever remain a threat, and it cannot be proven that all juveniles commit crimes with the intent of committing them. These factors should be taken into consideration before sentencing a juvenile to life without parole. The brain does not fully develop until the age of twenty-five, yet the juveniles being sentenced, without parole, are not even close to becoming adults. Age plays a big factor within this decision, for “a massive loss of brain tissue occurs in the teen years” (Thompson). Teenagers have been said to be impulsive, mainly because the brain cells and connections needed …show more content…
One such person who can advocate for this is former juvenile court judge Gail Garinger. In “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences”, Garinger claims that she observed “the enormous capacity of children to change and turn themselves around”. These minors are still in the process of growing into adults, and in order to grow, one needs to face challenges. However, such a severe challenge, which prohibits the minor from making up for his mistake, should not be put in place. Concluding her statement, she states that “the best time to decide whether someone should spend his entire life in prison is when he has grown to be an adult, not when he is still a child.” This further emphasizes the fact that it is impossible for a judge to predict if the convict will remain a threat for society, or

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