Predichun. Thisarhute Ww agua twa ioveries Jer hg Sennerces, Oot oe nel? & March 14, 2012 ecteadt oF punssnment Juveniles p Sentences By GaiL GARINGER Boston New yore times on’t Deserve Life - IN th a t le late 1980s, a sma F . wnat Wave of violent juy: Small but influential group of criminologists predicted a coming soon “ =p, ina’ crime: “superpredators, a-youmg as 1,Jeommitting crimes in°\\ paresived ined cians Soon responded to those fears, and to concerns about the S.~ : “auacies of state juvenile justice systems, by lowering the age at which 4 dl ten could be transferred to adult courts, The coneern was that offenders prosecuted: Tnsrecel Se RAM as juveniles wou uld-havetorberelensed-atages8.0r-21,} wa Puser _ At 2 it “ ae” . oa the same time, “tough on crime” rhetoric led some states to enact laws making it Bl eas, a easier to impose life without parole sentences on adults. The unintended consequence of these laws was that chil Tig a 1g and 14 who were charged asadults became | — 1and 14 who were charged as adits Pecan es he RB subject to life without parole sentences, aniciomeegeem - oso Whew Se GE Seeing nwide ea in rien ait 4 5,40 Adu — mig-adolescents have ced to die.in prison} Sentence not (& >. imposed on children anywhere else in the world. These children were told that they ee ae could never change and that no one cared what became of them. They were denied s+ x So oniashy access to education and rehabilitation programs and left without help or hope. 30.7 ¢s 19 Pe a ckesewwe Us But the prediction of a generation of superpredators never came to pass. Beginning in the mid-1990s, violent juvenile crime declined, and it has continued to decline through the present day. The laws that were passed to deal with them, however, continue to exist. This month, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two... SoS\fuit Jackson v. Hobbs and Miller v. Alabama, which will decide whether children can7 he 1% Ce ~ ~ = ‘ney Shull” be sentenced to life without parole after being convicted of homicide. apt Tie wider eae, _ ne vids the court has already struck down the death penalty for juveniles and life without parole, "?"5\ / 5 for young offenders convicted in nonhomicide case The rationale for these earlier | $er"4 6)" decisions is simple and equally applicable to the cases to be heard:|Woung people are, poteeically-different'irom adults. Brain imaging studies reveal that the regions of the + Ah Si BT EPOHOTAETOF CONTIN TEN actions and emotions are not fully Just because Theyre yong deednt mean ney desewwe a vignt off for bev vivie crimes. It mignt show why wey, warnteq comm crimes bet les norta wire FF Maye iy o¥. Sey THEM HS not aN BLUSe, WI Yee ina