With the exception of the very rare genetically born psychopath, I think 99.99% of children are born whole and not “born broken”. With that said, I think they are fragile and easily broken by poverty, ignorance and absentee (either physically, emotionally or both) parents. It’s a society problem, not a genome problem. I oppose the death penalty and life in prison for that matter. The only difference between them is the timeline! In both cases the inmate dies in prison, away from their family. A death penalty sentence is meted out in 20-25 after exhausting all appeals. Life in prison for a juvenile can stretch our 60, 70 or more years. Many on death row have been exonerated by new evidence. Those doing life don’t have the same right of appeal. Which is more just or more humane is debatable. We are only one of a handful of countries that have a life sentence and we have one of the highest per capita crime rates, so we really need to look at what works and what doesn’t.

I hate to disagree but some children are just born broken. I have seen juveniles kill just to see what it feels like. Those children need never be released from prison. That would tell them that they could get away with these horrendous crimes. We should not execute them but we should not ever release them back to a society that expects us to protect them.

Everyone agrees that the kids were taught wrong or made a bad choice but just like the insane or mentally disabled if they commit a crime regardless of the reasons there are consequences I am a bad person I know but if people knew that if they killed someone with intent they would be killed there would be a lot less people killing each other.

I feel as though most juveniles lack the capacity to harness their emotions. I, personally, wouldn’t sentence ANY juvenile to life without parole.

If you’re big enough to do the crime, you’re big enough to serve your time.

Work a youthful offender dorm at an adult institution. The majority of them have comitted heinous crimes, charged as an adult and are serving life in prison. Florida abolished parole a long time ago so life in prison means natural life. They will only be released from the confines of the perimeter in a body bag. Working with juveniles takes a lot of patience. Trying to control them with threats and intimidation will just get your butt kicked by them. Staff interaction and direction is how to deal with them. They can not be ignored or they will cause problems. Stand your ground and let them know the direction you want them to go and that if they stray from that direction there are consequences. (i.e. loss of gain time, confinement, etc.) I don’t yell, scream, “snap”, get frustrated or threaten them, however if they stray I will administer progressive discipline including confinement. I have yet to have a juvenile “snap” on me, threaten me, assault me or physically refuse to be handcuffed. I refuse to let them get the better of me at work and especially refuse to bring it home. I have been asked by the administration why I like working with them. It is a daily challenge to keep them in line. These kids were not born evil or bad. They had no responsible adult to point them in the right direction. They are a product of their society watching everyone they know committing crimes. They do know right from wrong however they have been taught that the wrong way is the fastest and easiest way to get by. It is my job to interact with these kids and keep them under control by teaching them to right way to accomplish things.

I have worked with both adults and juveniles over my 15 years in corrections, and I can definitely say working with juveniles is worse than working with adults. Juveniles just don’t give a damn. I worked at a treatment facility for juvenile sex offenders, and we had a recidivism rate near 80%. Some kids are just born evil, and I have no problem locking htem up and throwing away the key.

In my opinion, both sides have great points, but both sides have consequences of our actions. Let’s say that a child (juvenile) is released from being successfully rehabilitated and once out into society he or she commits a similar crime, then what? They successfully went through rehabilitation, so why did they recommit their crimes. Two possible reasons; 1) we’ve failed them or 2) they played us, or a combination of both. It is known of both situations occurring. The other side propose that we leave the little trouble makers (juveniles) in the care of corrections until their sentence has been filled. The problems with that are funding, overcrowding, and a possible chance of pushing them to become a lot worse than when they first enter the system.

Well I think (personally) it would probably be the child’s parent fault in a way because that parent child wasn’t giving them the attention that he/she needed and they just went bad and yes I am a parent of 2 and I don’t spoil them but they get all of my attention @ any time so I don’t think any child should get life in prison they haven’t even experienced live very well…they need a second chance to go out there and prove to family/friends/enemies that they can do good.

Anybody know the answer to the 3 strikes & juveniles question?

does the three strike rule apply to juveniles?

I posted earlier about death penalty, but the topic was life without parole. I don’t feel juveniles should be locked away for life unless the justice system has exhausted all hope for a juvenile to be able to get help. I would say it depends on the individual and the situation, but if we can deter juveniles from committing crime by teaching them than I feel we should first try to help the juvenile instead of locking them up for life. The juvenile is not getting any help being locked away in prison, but if we can some how treat the juvenile than maybe we can help them at a life that does not involve crime. I am a Criminal Justice student currently, so I am in the process of learning how the Criminal Justice System works.

I don’t think juveniles should be put to death because they are still young, and can still be taught. Their minds are not yet mature enough to make rational decisions. If we can deter them from crime without killing them I feel that is the best solution. We should try to help children not kill them because they committed a crime.