Thursday, October 31, 2019
American prison fail again
After reading the “Bresha Meadows thought you’d understand” article I was left very unsettled. It has been clear that the American prison system is in serious need of reform, but I was fairly shocked by how much it has turned its back on the abused children of America. Brehsha was only 14 when she decided that she could no longer bare to be severely abused by her father. She had tried to escape, only to be taken back to her abuser. To Brenda, there was no other way out. She decided that she, and her family, would only be safe if she was able to completely stop her father. She made the decision, and rightly so, to kill him. She believed that people would understand. Most people understood why she did, and believed that she was okay in her actions. However, the court system believed otherwise. In America, we do not really care about why people commit crimes, we only care that they committed them. We need serious prison reform in America, especially for juveniles. Do you think that juveniles should even be allowed to go to prison? Do you think that they should just have to go through mental illness treatment instead?
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5 comments:
In response to the question regarding juveniles, I think that juveniles should have to go to prison. Yes, I think that mental illness treatment is also important, but prison serves another purpose: punishment. Depending on the severity of mental illness, the “kids” are still at fault for their actions, at least most of the time. Prison time should be supplemented with some mental reform class or treatment.
I think that by the age of 15 or 16, you are control of your actions. Yes, I know there is research and facts to argue that the brain is not fully developed until a later age, but for the most part you are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong. This is where prison comes into play: if you don’t punish a kid at a young age, they will continue to repeat these same actions for the remainder of their life. These kids are the ones that end up back in jail in a couple years. With that said, if they are put in prison the first time, they might not be as inclined to repeat these actions. I know this might not always be the case, but it would be more effective than not sending them to prison at all. However, I am not saying that they must stay in prison for life or a long period of time. There needs to be some limit on their time due to the fact that they are still young, and therefore immature.
Kids want to be treated as adults, however not in the case of crime and punishment. With that said, we either need to own up to our actions or admit that we are not ready for the adult life!
What do y’all think??
I agree that the American prison system is in need of major reform. But I disagree with you saying that it was the right decision for Brenda to murder her father. While he may have deserved what he had coming, killing him was the wrong decision and she should be held accountable for taking another humans life. I also think that her punishment was too harsh and she should have been sent somewhere other than a prison like a mental hospital.
I also agree with the comment above in that Bresha should not have killed her father. Although she may have not been of an age to know what was the "responsible" thing to do, she should have at least known that there are programs, such as Child Protective Services, which can help take care of you when you are in an abusive situation. Further, even though her father was abusive to both Bresha and her mother, he did not deserve death as a reprisal for his crimes, yet Bresha killed him anyways. Thus, I believe that Bresha deserves some form of punishment for her acts.
It is very important that we consider both the crime and circumstance when determining punishment. Determining a just punishment for crime is not easy and it most likely never will be. Therefore we should stay away from blanket generalizations about who deserve what punishments and instead deal with each crime on a case by case basis. In this case, the system failed there is no doubt about that. However, as a society I don't think we should be condoning the murder of anyone because it leads to a dangerous slippery slope.
I think the juvenile prison system, if in the least, should be monitored and examined for need for reform. There should be and is in some cases psychiatric help for mentally disturbed youth, but I believe it should be a part of all juvenile prison systems. Reform can happen most easily at a young age, and if at all possible should be attempted with the utmost priority.
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