10.9. Returning to Rehabilitation in the Contemporary Juvenile Justice System
10.9. Returning to Rehabilitation in the Contemporary Juvenile Justice System
Alison S. Burke
Empirical research drives recent reform efforts. The past decade has witnessed the identification of key developmental processes associated with delinquent behavior, such as brain development research. Ergo, evidence-based practices, utilize the scientific method to assess the effectiveness of interventions, policies, and programs. In looking at what works, what doesn’t, and what is promising, researchers and policymakers alike assess the implementation of interventions to best meet the needs of the individual youth.
Additionally, several noteworthy Supreme Court cases exemplify society’s evolving standards of decency and treatment of youth. These key cases demonstrate a move back to rehabilitation and acknowledge the fundamental differences between children and adults.
Key Supreme Court Cases
Roper v Simmons (2005)
In 2005, a landmark decision by the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to impose a death penalty sentence on any youth who was under the age of 18 when they committed their offense (Roper v. Simmons). Although Christopher Simmons planned and committed a capital offense (he murdered his neighbor, Shirley Cook), the court ruled that 18 years of age is where criminal responsibility should rest. That is to say, if a child is too young to vote, sign contracts, or do several other things (because society deems them not responsible enough), then they are too young to receive the death penalty. The court stated, “the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” to determine which punishments are so disproportionate as to be “cruel and unusual.” Simmons received life in prison. It was ruled that imposing the death penalty on a person who was under the age of 18 at the time of the crime constituted cruel and unusual punishment. At the time of the Roper v Simmons verdict, the U.S. was only one out of a handful of countries that still imposed the death penalty on juveniles (among other countries were Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Iran).
Graham v Florida (2010)
While the death penalty was taken off the table for youth under the age of 18, they were instead sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP). This was until the 2010 case of Graham v. Florida. Terrance Graham received life in prison for a felony offense (armed burglary) when he was only 16 years old. Since Florida does not have parole, his sentence de facto became a life without the possibility of parole. The Supreme Court heard his case and ruled that it was unconstitutional to sentence a minor to life without the possibility of parole for a non-homicide offense.
Miller v Alabama (2012)
Two years later, juvenile law again rested in the hands of the Supreme Court. Even though Graham v. Florida abolished life without the possibility of parole for non-homicide offenses, youth under the age of 18 were still receiving that sentence for crimes of m