This is a probing piece, Sinclair, but I don't want to dominate the conversation. I know Christians are generally uninvolved socially, and act passively waiting for the Messiah while wringing their hands about prophecies. They seem inarticulate, but so many of their children wind up in the penal system as killers. In fact the children I know personally incarcerated now for murder are from Christian homes. It is so prevalent I didn't realize I see it as the norm until just now thinking about all those boys.
Good God! That scared me! It just hit me hard in the chest! - Gregory E. Woods, 1.23.14
Is it Right to Give Kids Life in Prison with No Chance for Parole?
By Dr. Sinclair Grey III
Is it fair to sentence youth to life behind bars with no chance of parole? Let me ask it another way. Should a child who made a mistake while young have a chance of gaining his/her freedom after serving time? These are some questions to ponder as you read this article.
Let’s look at Addolfo Davis. He began his career in crime at the age of 8-years-old. Two years later at the age of 10, he was charged with armed robbery. Four years later, he took part in a crime that was viewed as so heinous that he was sentenced to life without the chance of parole.
This was over 20 years ago during the crack era in Chicago. Davis joined two other boys in a home invasion and robbery that led to a double homicide. It was a time when the court system was aiming at punishing young offenders harshly for their actions.
According to reports, ‘Davis was the product of a badly broken family. His mother was a drug addict. His grandmother tried to fill that role, but was consumed with work and the responsibilities of a disabled husband and mentally handicapped son. Davis began robbing people to get money for food. He fell in with a gang that gave him more attention than he could find at home. And getting locked up, he said in a 2008 interview, offered him three meals a day and a roof over his head. Everything that I did was basically to get money so I can take care myself, he said.’
Davis is now 37 years old and still in prison in Illinois. His case is one that is being considered as to whether hundreds of children should spend their life behind bars for committing crimes as a child.
“The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in Davis’ case, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in 2012 in Miller v. Alabama that ruled mandatory life sentences for juveniles without the chance of parole constitute cruel and unusual punishment.” It’s important to note that the Supreme Court determined that youth ‘cannot with reliability be classified among the worst offenders because they are more capable of change than are adults, and their actions are less likely to be evidence of irretrievably depraved character.’
Human Rights Watch has noted that there are over 2,500 inmates in the U.S. serving life sentences for crimes they committed as children. Many activists are looking at how states will view and apply the Supreme Court’s decision to do away with life without parole for children.
“There were 37 states when Miller came down that had these types of laws on the books, and following the decision all of them have taken two paths: a litigation path and a legislation path,” said Jobi Cates, Chicago Director of Human Rights Watch. “We’ve been watching state after state come to terms with this. We are sort of looking for a tipping point as we believe most legislatures and most courts that are looking at this say if something is wrong on Tuesday it’s wrong on Wednesday too. That means they have to apply [the U.S. Supreme Court’s Miller ruling] retroactively.”
“We hope that Illinois will become one of the many states that have taken this very seriously and that the court will do the right thing,” Cates said.
“Youth advocates say that juvenile offenders sentenced to life often face harsher treatment than adults. Among the states with the highest number of prisoners serving life without parole terms (who were sentenced as juveniles) are Pennsylvania (475), Michigan (358), Florida (355), California (301) and Louisiana (238), according to a recent report by the ACLU’s Juvenile Life Without Parole Initiative.”
Now, you have to decide for yourself whether it’s fair and/or reasonable for youth who commit crimes while young to spend their life behind bars. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled according to law. However, you have to decide with your conscious on whether it’s right or wrong.
Source: MSNBC
Dr. Sinclair Grey III is an inspirational speaker, motivator, author, organizer and liberator of persons from all intellectual, social and cultural walks of life. He is a committed advocate for communal change. Email: drgrey@sinclairgrey.org. Follow on Twitter @drsinclairgrey
No comments:
Post a Comment