Juvenile Life Sentencing was Recently Overturned by U.S. Supreme Court - Admission/Application Essay Example

According to statistics on juvenile sentencing and cases, Florida leads other states in terms of offering harsh sentence to minors (Musgrave Web). The high court’s decision to overturn life sentencing for juveniles was heavily criticized by conservative justices throughout the country. However, the court’s ruling against juvenile life sentencing is constitutionally sound. This essay raises an argument in support of the decision made by the Supreme Court concerning juvenile life sentencing.

It is a fact that minors are getting more involved in criminal activities than years before. This is a major problem to societies living in economically developed countries such as the US and several European countries. Juvenile cases range from minor case such as simple assaults in schools to armed robbery and murder. Offenders who commit such crime are liable for life sentencing since the county ruled out death penalty. Life sentence has now become the most severe punishment since the elimination of death sentence.

The decision to overturn life sentence for juvenile offenders is an appropriate decision that should be supported by all stakeholders (Bajger Web). This is because sentencing minors to life imprisonment is not a solution to crime or the problem, but a cover up for the problem. An appropriate solution will be more concerned with finding the root causes of the problems than dealing with the aftermath. Such a solution does not give room to juvenile life sentencing. Exposure to violent movies and lack of parental guidance are some of the major causes of juvenile crimes that are supported by modern lifestyles.

Life imprisonment for juvenile does not address either of this root cause and hence it is not a solution to the problem (Chambliss 102). In addition, life sentence for juvenile creates room for more minor offenders. The main purpose of the judicial system is to enhance correction of offenders. Decisions made by the judicial system through the court are executed by the correctional facilities such as prisons. Prisons are important facilities in a country; however, their roles are not fully understood by most people.

Life sentencing of minor offenders is more of a punishment than a correctional decision. Eliminating the sentence from the penal code proves that the US judicial has great interest on implementing its purpose (Musgrave Web). The decision is therefore, of particular interest to the judicial system and the United States population. The decision also proves that the judicial system is ready to implement necessary reforms in such a time when the United States democracy is under criticism. Correction of wrong behaviors is important to both the country and the offenders.

However, correction is more important when the offender is a minor than when the offender is an adult. Sentencing minors to life imprisonment denies them the chance to acquire correct behaviors. This is because when serving a life imprisonment, a person has no use for descent behavior. In addition, life sentence denies the culprit to practice descent behavior or to prove that they have acquired descent behavior from correctional facilities (Musgrave Web). The decision by the high court therefore proves that the US judicial system is in support of the correctional role of the judicial system.

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