Trains of Thought...

America, a nation with 1 in 31 of its adult population behind bars, there are approximately 7.3 million American adults in jail, on probation or on parole.
These facts alone are astonishing themselves, however, what is most damaging to the American justice system is the fact that America is the ONLY nation on earth that allows juveniles convicted of a non-homicidal offence to be prisoned for life.

In the New York Times, Marc Mauer and Kent Scheidegger debate this controversial issue..

Marc Mauer
There are more than 1,700 people in the United States serving sentences of life without parole for crimes committed as juveniles. No other nation has even a single person serving such a sentence. Now the Supreme Court will consider an extreme outcome of this policy, two cases of juveniles serving no-parole life terms for non-homicide offenses.

There is no question that the two juveniles, Joe Sullivan and Terrance Graham, were convicted of very serious offenses. So why is it problematic to incarcerate them for life?

First, children are different than adults. As the Supreme Court noted in its 2005 decision in Roper v. Simmons banning the death penalty for juveniles, children do not have fully matured levels of judgment or impulse control, and are more susceptible to peer pressure than adults. Brain imaging research documents that adolescent brains are not fully developed, particularly in areas that control reasoning and risk taking. It is for these reasons that all states already impose age restrictions on voting, driving and consuming alcohol.

The rest of the debate can be read here.. http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/young-offenders-locked-up-for-life/?ex=1273640400&en=b2b62424869375ec&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=OP-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M123-ROS-1109-HDR&WT.mc_ev=click

Is life without parole cruel and unusual punishment for juveniles who have committed offences such as burglary...

In my opinion,and it may be mine alone, but it is beyond immoral to revoke a persons freedom at a stage of their life where, in many cases, they have more potential for full rehabilitation than any other offender.

Like in Britain, America's prison system appears to be more of a breeding ground for further crime rather than a place for rehabilitation. A serious overhaul of the way criminals, especially juvenile criminals needs to be undertaken, sending to people to prison in most cases sweeps the problem under the carpet rather than solve the social issues at hand.