This article was posted in the Baylor University newpaper The Lariat.  It points out the reasons for challenging the validity of Juvenile Life Witout Parole.  It also asks the question, shouldn’t kids be given a chance at life?  We have all heard the stories about the accidental shootings, the car accidents, the deaths of loved ones at the hands of youth.  Have we ever stopped to really listen to the story?  Or have we been content with the sound bytes that the television news reporters have given us?  We need, as a nation, to stop believing everything we hear and we need to start asking questions.  Not only about this topic, but about our nation in general.  Read on….

Editorial: Life without parole cruel punishment for minors

April 15, 2009

Claire Taylor/Lariat Staff [1] (Click here for larger view)

While most teenagers spend their days doing homework, hanging out with friends and dreaming about the rest of their lives, some teens are sitting behind bars with no hope of getting out. These youths have committed a crime, were tried as adults and given the maximum sentence of life without parole. This punishment is too extreme for a minor and should be prohibited.

At least 73 inmates in the United States were sentenced to life without parole for crimes they committed when they were only 13 or 14 years old, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, an Alabama nonprofit group that defends impoverished defendants and prisoners. There are more than 2,000 who were under 18 when the crime was committed.

Though the specifics vary a bit from state to state, minors generally can be tried as adults when the crime they’re accused of is violent or premeditated, such as a rape or murder.

The maturity and the history of the minor, the need to protect the public and the predicted ability of the minor to be rehabilitated also often go into a judge’s decision to try a minor as an adult, according to legalmatch.com.

Minors should be punished for their actions and in cases of some violent crimes, should even be tried in adult courts. But the sentence of life without parole shouldn’t be an option for anyone under 18. Only five states, including Texas, that offer life without parole for adult offenders prohibit these sentences for juveniles, according to pbs.org. The other 45 need to institute this same restriction.

Youths’ brains are still developing, which means important brain functions that could have prevented them from committing the crime have not fully matured. Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo), a child psychologist who is pushing resentencing for juveniles sentenced to life without parole, said in the California Chronicle that brain maturation happens throughout adolescence and skills needed for impulse control, planning and critical thinking have not fully developed.

For these reasons, the Supreme Court ruled that people under 18 could not be sentenced to death in the 2005 case Roper v. Simmons.

Their reasoning was based on the fact that minors do not have the maturity or sense of responsibility that adults have.

The court noted that most states keep those under 18 from voting, serving on a jury or getting married without the consent of their parents because of their lack of maturity.

It was deemed cruel and unusual punishment to condemn someone with this lack of reasoning to death.

The court or states should also extend this reasoning to life sentences without parole. This punishment is basically sentencing the person to die in prison. It should be considered with the same weight the death penalty is.

This also means that minors are easier to rehabilitate than adults. The juveniles may have committed the crimes before their brains had the capability to make the right decision. They should have the chance at parole once their brains have matured.

Even notorious adult murderers are often given the chance for parole. Charles Manson, who committed seven murders at the age of 27, has been up for parole 11 times, though it’s never been granted. He will be eligible for the 12th time in 2012, according to CNN. David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam” killer who murdered six people in his 20s during the ’70s, has been eligible for parole four times.

Quantel Lotts, however, killed his stepbrother after their horseplay escalated when he was only 14, according to CNN. He will not be eligible for parole in his lifetime unless his sentence is reconsidered.

It doesn’t make sense that adults with fully developed brains at the times of their crimes, especially crimes where so many people were murdered, should have a better chance at parole than teenagers who may have only committed one crime.

There’s no doubt that juveniles should be punished for serious crimes they commit, but they shouldn’t be locked away in prison with no hope of parole. Texas and the handful of other states that prohibit life without parole for minors have the right idea. All states should take this lead and give minors a chance at life.