Question

About how many juveniles are currently serving life without parole in the United States? How many are there in the rest of the world? What does that tell you about the U.S. criminal justice system?

Answer 1

There are about 2,500 juveniles serving life without parole in the United States. Life without parole essentially means these juveniles will spend their entire life in prison and they will die while in prison. Currently no other countries have juveniles sentenced to life without parole.

This shows that the Unites States current criminal justice system does not have a strong belief in the rehabilitation of these juveniles. It is as if the United States believes that everyone is responsible for the crimes they commit even as a child. They don’t believe those juveniles have a chance at becoming productive members of society. The United States has a much harsher criminal justice system in regards to sentencing juveniles than other countries around the world. The US should focus more on rehabilitation because young people who commit these crimes are still growing and learning emotionally and mentally. They have a greater chance at rehabilitation than an adult offender and deserve the chance to prove themselves.

Answer 2

4. What percentage of young offenders serving life without parole have been convicted offelony murder?A quarter (25%) are estimated to be serving life without parole for felony murder.5. Why does the felony murder statute affect juveniles more often?It tends to affect more juveniles than adults because juveniles tend to act in groups and it assignsthe punishment to everyone involved even if only one specific person committed the murder.6. How do the victims' families benefit from the felony murder statute?The families know where the offender will be for the rest of their life. They do not have to attendparole hearings and recount their trauma time and time again.7. About how many juveniles are currently serving life without parole in the United States? Howmany are there in the rest of the world? What does that tell you about the U.S. criminal justicesystem?In the US today there are about 2,000 juveniles currently serving life without parole. In the rest of theworld there are only 12. I think that it shows us that there is something wrong with the way wehandle juvenile offenders and sentence them in this country.