Identify How Other Policing Agencies, Courts, and Society Are Affected by the Current Status of This Issue

Identify how other policing agencies, courts, and society are affected by the current status of this issue.

Josi Barth

When it comes to criminal justice and the courts, one phrase strikes fear and despair into many hearts.  That phrase is “life without parole”.  In the adult court system that can be devastating. An individual’s life will be spent behind bars.  In the juvenile courts this phrase can be even more devastating based solely on the fact that when a juvenile is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, they are spending a much longer amount of time incarcerated and miss out on many things that many experience throughout their young adult years as well as any other formative experiences.  A large portion of these sentences that have been handed down to juvenile offenders are given to them by judges that are in a position that makes it so they have no other choice.  Many states in the United States have laws that mandate that a judge is obligated to impose this penalty without any consideration for things such as a child’s age or any other factors such as life circumstances for that juvenile.  An even more disturbing fact is that morer than 25% of the people serving life without the possibility of parole were sentenced while they were under the age of 18.  The crime committed was often felony murder or accomplice top murder meaning that they might not have even been present at the time the victim was killed (The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, 2012-2015).  Society  as well as local law enforcement can be affected by this in many ways.  In a community, the life force is often the youth.  They breathe life into many factions of a community.  They are involved in many charities through high school as well as play sports that can be entertaining along with even raising money for their schools and their communities.  Young people in communities often supply the workforce for many jobs that are helpful to the community such as fast food places, grocery stores, and many other jobs.  When a society has a large amount of the youth taken away for the remainder of their lives, the community and society suffers.