The Supreme Court Restricts Life Sentences for Juveniles

Everyone will have an opinion on the recent vote by Supreme Court Justices that allows the limit of life sentences for juveniles. Personally, unless the kid has been seen by as psychiatrist and is given a psychopath or sociopath diagnosis, a life sentence is very harsh for a 15-year old. If they have a mental illness then prison isn't the right place. I believe each case should be looked at very very closely before putting a 15-year old behind bars for life. The reading was to take into account the young person's age before rendering punishment.

Five justices saw life imprisonment for these young people as cruel and unusual punishment. The Eight Amendment bans this. The vote was 5-4 vote. The bottom line is that young people serving life prison terms must be given a real opportunity to be released if they haven't killed anyone. Of course four of the justices didn't agree.

An inmate actually brought his case to the Supreme Court in 2002. He helped rob a Florida restaurant. Someone he was with beat the manager. Terence Graham was given a year in jail and three years' probation. The next year when he was 17, he and two 20-year olds robbed a home. Terance was given life in prison for violating his probation.

The decision was made yesterday, May 17, 2010. The Supreme Court has determined categories of offenders and crimes that are not subject to the death penalty, including juvenile offenders and those who do not take a life.

Justices Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, John Paul Stevens, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayer all claimed that national and international practices supported the ruling.

The dissent came from Justices Thomas, Samuel Ailo Jr. and Antonin Scalia. Thirty-seven states, the District of Columbia and the federal government have laws allowing life-without-parole sentences for juveniles convicted of offenses where no one was killed. These justices think that most states are in favor of the punishment. I wonder what would happen if they actually polled people and asked them what they thought. .

This decision is aimed at non-homicides but it seems advocates will be trying to get some leniency for the 2,000 juvenile inmates servicing life without parole.

You can read more about this fascinating ruling at the sources below. Each Justice has their own version of what is right and wrong and the gray in between. According to Justice Thomas it seems that he might not rule out a death sentence for a child who steals a toy. Of course he was one of the three dissenting justices and conservative.

Thoughts?

SOURCES

NY Times
Courier Journal
LA Times

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