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Lilyana Young
Mrs. Porraz
ERWC
3 March 2015
Juvenile Justice Essay Writing
The juvenile justice system is a topic that is not commonly discussed in today's society
but holds immense value. Many people, ranging from juveniles parents to court justices, have
strong opinions on this topic and whether or not they believe children should be tried as adults
and spend their lives in prison. Four of our nine supreme court justices believe that juveniles who
commit heinous crimes should always be punished with a sentence to life in prison. As Justice
Alito states, Even a 17 year old who sets off a bomb in a crowded mall or guns down a
dozen students and teachers is a child and must be given a chance to persuade a judge to permit
his release into society Justice Alito has a very valid argument because if a child's crime
punishment was solely off of their age, then kids could commit any type of vicious crime without
fear of punishment.
Just because a child is not of a certain age does not mean that he or she doesn't know
what they are doing. In the article On Punishment and Teen Killers an incident is described
where a teenager shot and killed a man, his wife, and their unborn child because he wanted to
see what it would feel like to shoot someone. The fact that someone can willingly take another
human's life without any remorse because he wanted to experience murder is a very shameful
idea. The victim's family must have gone through an extended period of traumatic loss and there
are people out there who believe that the killer should be let go just because he isnt 18, therefore
considered a child.

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Justice Elena Kagen, on the other hand, stated, Mandatory life without parole for a
juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological age and its hallmark features- among them,
immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate risks and consequences. I agree that kids lack
maturity and most of their actions are solely based off of their own judgements and not the
consequences that come along with it, but in contrast, kids are not stupid and they know the
actions that they pursue. This is not to say that I believe every child who commits a crime should
spend their entire lives in prison, but heinous crimes do call for major consequences. In
conclusion, just because a murderer is not of a certain age, does not mean that they should not be
severely punished. If a child is willing to commit a vicious crime then that child needs to accept
the equal consequence.

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Works Cited
Jenkins, Jennifer. "On Punishment and Teen Killers." Juvenile Justice Information Exchange
(2011): 49-50. Print
Thompson, Paul. "Startling Finds on Teenage Brains." Sacramento Bee(2001): 47-48. Print.