Should Teens Be Condemened to Die in Jail

To Whom It May Concern: I read an article dating back to October 31, 2009 concerning juveniles that are serving life sentences without parole for offenses they committed like robbery, murder, or rape. In this article, one particular story caught my interest which pertained to a now thirty-two year old woman named Sara Kruzan whom murdered her abusive pimp at the age of sixteen and was sentenced to life without parole. Her story began when she was eleven years and a middle school student from Riverside, California when she met a man named GG whom was three times her age. GG became somewhat of a father figure to Sara due to the circumstances that her mother was a drug-addict and abusive and for her father well she only met him a couple of times. “GG was there sometimes” she said. “He would talk to me and take me out and give me all these lavish gifts and do all these things for me like a father and boyfriend.” Not long after, GG started talking to Sara about sex and the things men desired most out of women and unknowing groomed Sara into a prostitute. When Sara was thirteen GG raped her. Soon, Sara was working for GG as a prostitute which consisted of the hours 6p.m. until 5:30 or 6 the next morning. She and other girls would come back and turn in all their profits to GG. “He was married to all of us I guess and everything was his” she said. After years of prostitution and sexual abuse, when Kruzan was 16, she snapped and killed GG. She was arrested and convicted of first-degree murder. Despite her lawyer attempts to have her sentenced as a juvenile, the judge described her crime as well thought-out and sentenced her to life without parole. “My judge told me I lacked moral scruples,” she recalls, a term she did not know the meaning of then. “Life without parole means I’m going to die here” she said. A few years ago Sara’s story grabbed the attention of California State Senator Leland Yee who introduced a legislation to abolish the sentence of life without parole for youth offenders. The bill would not be a get out of jail pass but merely try to help rehabilitate juveniles who committed a felony before the age of 18 would serve a minimum of 25years before being eligible to go before a parole board. “When it comes to judging the actions of teenagers versus those of adults, the neuroscience is clear; brain maturation continues well through adolescence, and thus impulse control, planning, and critical thinking skills are still not yet fully developed. “Children have a greater capacity for rehabilitation than adult,” Yee said. In politics punitive almost always wins out. Yee’s bill met intense political resistance and eventually died. In February 2009, he introduced a new water-downed bill that instead of eliminating life without parole for juveniles a review would be set up of a youth offender sentence after ten years. In 2005, Human Rights Watch published a study which found at least 2,225 people incarcerated in the United States who have been sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in jail were children. Today, the number is even higher at 2,574. So my concern to you is do you think that juveniles serving life sentences violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment? According to Equal Justice Initiative out of the prisoners serving life without parole, more than half are first-time offenders. At least 74 involve defendants who were 14 years old or younger when they committed their crime. Many factors contributed to the harsh sentencing of these juveniles for example the lack of legal representation, race, and economic standards. Race is a key factor in many cases due to that the American criminal justice system targets people of color. In studies shown African American youth are serving the sentence at a rate of about 10 times that of white youth. Most of the money spent on putting youth away should be spent on rehabilitation and job training. Yes, I do believe some youthful offenders need extended sentences but it shouldn’t be for life.