My Interview

I didn't really learn anything new during this interview. John believes that juveniles should have a second chance, and the opportunity to be rehabilitated. He said that they decide which juveniles can be rehabilitated. They do this by assessing their risk to the community, find out what is causing them to act the way they did, and then they try to fix what is wrong. That is the only new information that I learned from this interview. I found it interesting that they will still try to rehabilitate a juvenile that has commit horrific crimes. That is all that I learned from this interview.

I think the hardest part of the interview was coming up with good questions and  writing down the responses. I enjoyed listening to John's responses, even though I already knew the information, I still liked hearing his view on it. I thought it was pretty easy to ask the questions, but it was hard to write down the responses, it was hard to write as fast as he was talking. Other than that, my interview experience was really good.

Stakeholders

Some people agree that giving juveniles life in prison is a cruel and unusual punishment. They also think that executing juveniles is against the eighth amendment. The United States is the only country that gives juveniles life in prison without parole. Some people think that the United States should be like Italy (The maximum jail time for juveniles is 24 years.) or more like Germany (The maximum jail time for juveniles is 10 years.) These people also believe that it is cruel and unusual to give a juvenile life in prison without the possibility of parole for non-homicide crimes, crimes like violating parole, or when an accomplice in a robbery beat someone. One person for this side is John R. Blue, a retired appeals court judge. He thinks that it is barbaric to give them life in prison without the possibility of parole. He said "You ought to leave them some hope." He thinks that they should at the least get the possibility of parole. Many people feel this way. They don't think juveniles should get life in prison.

On the other side, some people think that some juveniles deserve to get life in prison without parole. They think that if they are a threat to the community, then they should be taken away from the community. One person that agrees with this is William D. Snyder, chairman of the House's Criminal and Civil Justice Policy Council. He said "At a certain point, juveniles cross the line, and they have to be treated as adults and punished as adults." He believes that depending on the crime they commit, they should be tried as adults because they acted as adults. These people believe that some juveniles should be sentenced to life in prison to protect the community. They think that if these juveniles are in the community they will commit more crimes.They believe that giving juveniles life in prison will protect the community. These people believe that some juveniles should get life in prison and have to pay for their crimes. They believe that juveniles that commit these crimes should be tried as adults. They believe that they should get life in prison to protect the community.

New York Times Article

Panel Day Reflection

On panel day I heard the opinions of three people, a parole officer, a child services supervisor, and an attorney for juveniles. I mostly agree with Andy Strauss the attorney for juveniles. I also believe that if a child cannot be rehabilitated then they should be removed from the community. And I don't think that juveniles should get life in prison unless they commit a really horrific crime, like murder. If there was a murderer in town, I wouldn't want them going to school with me. But I don't think that juveniles should get life in prison for non-murder crimes. I also think that juveniles should have the chance to be rehabilitated. But if they can't be then they should have to do time for the crime that they committed. I believe that life in prison for juveniles isn't a cruel and unusual punishment if they committed a horrific crime. But if they get life in prison for something like rape, that is a cruel and unusual punishment. I believe that juveniles deserve a second chance in some cases.

Interviews

Bob Rea
Bob.Rea@state.vt.us


John Hebert
John.Hebert@state.vt.us 
(802) 828-3312
(802) 828-3561 Fax
                                                                                       

Sue Gallagher
Sue.Gallagher@state.vt.us
(802) 241-3192      
(802) 241-3193 Fax                                            

Woodside

Court Cases

Cruel and Unusual Punishment:
Francis vs Resweber
Ingraham vs Wright
Harmelin vs Michigan
Hudson vs McMillan

Juveniles:
Roper vs Simmons
Christopher Simmons who was 17 at the time and his friend Charles Benjamin broke into Shirley Crook's house, bound her hands, covered her eyes, drove her to a state park and threw her off a bridge.Simmons confessed, and another friend testified against him. The jury suggested the death sentence, but they denied it because of his age and because they found it violated the eighth amendment. The ruling was that he was not to be executed, but he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. This case changed a lot. Juveniles now cannot be executed, but they can still be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Graham vs Florida
Sullivan vs Florida
Joe Sullivan was convicted of sexual battery. Terrence Graham was convicted of armed burglary and attempted armed robbery. They both got life in prison without parole. These two cases changed a lot, the supreme court ruled that juveniles that committed their crimes when they were under the age of 18 cannot be sentenced to life in prison without parole, unless they commit murder.

Constitution Connection

The constitution states "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." That is the eighth amendment. Life imprisonment is both cruel and unusual. Sentencing juveniles to life in prison is unconstitutional. It directly goes against what the constitution says. If it is against the constitution, should it be aloud to sentence a child to life in prison? It is unconstitutional and should not be aloud in the united states.

Current Exterpretation

In some states, there are laws that allow a child as young as 14 to be tried as adults. They can't even drive yet, and they can be tried as adults in a court of law. Because of all of the juveniles breaking the law, they created a special court for juveniles. They are also kept separately  the juveniles are kept in a reformatory school for rehabilitation and so they are separate from adult inmates. In some states there are laws that if you are a juvenile and you commit multiple crimes, you would be considered a juvenile delinquent and be sent to a reform school until you were 21. There are two types of offenses, status offenses, an act that is not a crime if an adult does it. And the second is a delinquency offense which is a criminal act no matter the age of the perpetrator. There are also alternatives to reform schools and jail time. Juveniles can remain at home and receive counseling or they can go to a boot camp.