Introduction
Criminal justice system issues are studied nowadays and will be studied until humankind exists. The point is that such issues are rather controversial. Some people state that we are only humans and we are not allowed to judge others. On the other hand, there are those who are always unsatisfied with verdicts and state that sentences should be stricter. I am studying the issue of capital punishment for juveniles. In my opinion, this issue is significant to study because there are many discussions on this topic. There are those who state that juveniles should not be punished so strict. On the contrary, I suggest that even a juvenile criminal should realize the seriousness of a crime and should be punished accordingly. In my opinion, juveniles should answer for their crimes as adults do. On the contrary, there are some situation, for example, false accusation, when a juvenile does not deserve to be punished so strictly. Hence, I have chosen this very topic to study. In my opinion, it is significant to make everything clear not only for me but for others.
Nowadays, capital punishment for juveniles is prohibited in thirty one state of the United States of America. On the contrary, in 2004 71 juveniles were sentenced to death (“Overview of those who were under juvenile death sentences, 2005). This issue has been researched for several years already and scientists, as well as judges, cannot agree to whether a juvenile must be sentenced to death or not. This essay is aimed on clarifying this issue and trying to make it clear whether death punishment should be allowed in the United States of America or not.
Hypothesis
it has been already mentioned above that this research paper is aimed on clarifying the issue with capital punishment for juveniles in the United States of America. The point is that there are those who are against capital punishment, especially for juveniles, and those who state that juveniles deserve the same strictness of punishment as adult criminals. It has been already shown that capital punishment for juveniles is a rather serious and difficult case. In this essay I will try to show that death penalty should exist in every state of the United States of America. However, I suggest that juveniles should be sentenced to death in the most serious crimes and after a thorough investigation.
In this research I will use independent and dependent variables. To show that capital punishment for juveniles is obligatory, I will use the juvenile crime statistics in two states of the country: in California (the state where juveniles are sentenced to death) and Connecticut (the state where capital punishment is prohibited). As I have already mentioned, there will be dependent and independent variables. As the essay is aimed on showing that death penalty should be allowed, the independent variable will be a thousand teenagers who will have been questioned. The dependent variable will be their attitude to the death penalty for juveniles.
Literature review
For this research, I have read several scientific research articles. Moreover, I have read statistical data and official reports on this issue. Lynn Cothern in the article “Juveniles and the death penalty” presented general information about the death penalty for juveniles. The article contains statistics data, which can help not only see the general situation in juvenile justice system but outline its peculiarities as well. Moreover, Lynn Cothern presented different peculiarities in the process of sentencing juveniles of death in different states of the country. The author is not striving to prove any theory or hypothesis. On the other hand, Lynn Cothern is striving to show the current situation of the death penalty for juveniles and its past. The article was aimed on readers making decisions alone. The article contains different kinds of statistical data, which is rather helpful. This article is useful for my research because it contains a brief overview on the issue of juvenile capital punishment. Moreover, the author of the article showed possible solutions of how to decrease the amount of serious crimes among the juveniles. The author claims that, regardless the fact that juveniles are sentenced to death rarely nowadays, the problem remains and the government should solve it.
Brandon K. Applegate and Robin King Davis n their article “Public Views on Sentencing Juvenile Murderers: The Impact of Offender, Offense, and Perceived Maturity” tried to find out how public react toward juveniles who were sentenced to death. The authors states that in the most cases, juveniles are sentenced to death for a murder crime. On the one hand, I think that it is right because if one have killed someone, he or she should be killed as well. On the other hand, it is impossible to live according to the “eye for an eye” principle. The good thing is that the authors stay objective and do not judge any juvenile, who was sentenced to death, in their article. In my opinion, this is the most significant things when writing an article on a topic as this one. The authors of the article present only objective evidence to support their point of view. In the article “Public views on sentencing juvenile murders: the impact of offender, offense, and perceived maturity”, Brandon K. Applegate and Robin King Davis suggested the hypothesis that the society dislike and unrespect those who have committed a serious crime and were sentenced to death. The point is that ordinary people feel sorry for those who have committed a misdemeanor. The first excuse to feeling sorry for such people is that they have chosen the wrong way or they will do this the first and the last time ever. Moreover, some people say that it was only in terms of experimenting and trying something new. Besides, one of the most popular excuses is people thinking that a misdemeanor occurred because a juvenile is in the adolescence period of one’s life and he or she did not want it to happen. On the contrary, every teenager, who killed someone or is suspected in a murder, is thought to be one of the worst criminals in the country. The authors of the article proved that the people used to think stereotypically. This article is rather significant for my personal research because it shows the society attitude to juveniles who are sentenced to death. It is significant to know the society attitude for my research because the society may greatly influence the issue whether the death penalty for juveniles should be canceled or not.
Methodology
There are different kinds of methods that may be used in this research. I have chosen the method of quality analysis, the questionnaire. In the questionnaire, I will question both males and females, under the age of 18. The point is that I will question both teenagers who are sentenced and imprisoned, those who have been sentenced but have already been freed and those who have never been sentenced. This will help me understand the difference in opinions. I will question one thousand teenagers. Such amount of people is rather influential and it may show attitude to the issue of juvenile capital punishment. I have already mentioned that the research will consider only two states of the country: a state where the capital punishment for juveniles is prohibited and a state where it is still being used. In my research I will use the stratified sampling method. In my opinion, this method is the one that can present the data in the best way. Such method of data sampling will help me understand the results of the questionnaire. Besides, I will use the quantitative research method. This will help me to make a statistic table where the percentage of teenagers for and against death penalty for juveniles will be shown.
Questionnaire
Questions for identifying the independent variable:
1. Race: -White; -Black; -Latino; -Asian;
2. Gender: -male; -female;
3. Age: -13; -14; -15; -16; -17;
4. State you are living in: -California; -Connecticut.
Questions for identifying the dependent variable:
1. Have you ever been imprisoned?
- yes;
-no;
-I am currently imprisoned;
2. what is your attitude to the juvenile death penalty?
-positive;
-negative;
-indifferent;
3. Should juveniles be sentenced to death in case he or she committed a murder?
- yes;
-no.
References:
Applegate B. K., Davis R. K. (2006) Public Views on Sentencing Juvenile Murderers: The Impact of Offender, Offense, and Perceived Maturity. Youth violence and juvenile justice. Retrieved from http://www2.cohpa.ucf.edu/crim.jus/documents/ApplegatePublicviewsonsentencingjuvenilemurderers.pdf
Conthern L. (2000) Juveniles and the death penalty. Coordinating council of juvenile justice and delinquency prevention. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/184748.pdf
n.a. (2005) Overview of those who were under juvenile death sentences. Retrieved from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/juvenile-offenders-who-were-death-row
