In June 2000, 14-year-old Kenneth Young and 24-year-old Jacques Bethea, a neighborhood crack dealer and Young's mother's supplier, committed a series of armed robberies in Tampa, Florida. Bethea brandished the pistol and on one occasion was talked out of raping one of the victims by his younger partner. Fortunately, no one was killed or seriously injured during the crimes.
At 15, Young was tried under Florida law as an adult and received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. By 2006, all of Young's appeals had been denied. In 2009, his last hope for clemency from the governor's office was also denied. Then, in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Graham v. Florida declared it unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the case of non-homicidal crimes. This ruling vacated Young's life-without-parole sentences. At his 2011 re-sentencing hearing at the age of 26, Young was resentenced to four concurrent 30-year terms, followed by 10 years of probation. Kenneth Young is set for release in 2030 and continues to seek a reduced sentence that acknowledges his rehabilitation.
The juvenile justice system in the United States was built on the idea that an individual's ability to understand right and wrong, as well as the consequences of his or her decisions, is not completely formed until adulthood, when psychological and physiological capacities are fully developed. The first juvenile court in the United States was established in 1899 in Cook County, Illinois, as a less punitive and more rehabilitative alternative for youth. Within 30 years, nearly every state in the United States had created a similar system under which the state would be expected to follow the doctrine of parens patriae, or "state as parent," meaning that disciplinary measures should reform an individual in a way that would deter him or her from future criminal involvement. Juvenile courts are "civil" in nature, meaning that attention is focused on the individual who committed the crime; this differentiates the system from the "criminal" nature of the adult justice system, which focuses more on the crimes themselves. In 1974, the U.S. Congress enacted the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which provides funding to states to carry out federal protections regarding the care and treatment of youth in the juvenile justice system.
The juvenile justice system does not allow youth to be sentenced to life without parole. In order for a juvenile to receive a life sentence, his or her case must first be transferred to an adult criminal court. Every state allows for this transfer, but the age at which an individual is considered an adult is dependent on location and circumstances. From 1985 to 1994, when politicians were using slogans such as "adult time for adult crime," the number of juvenile cases transferred to adult criminal courts nearly doubled, from 7,200 to 13,200 cases. In 2007, nearly 14,000 juvenile cases were reported to be transferred to adult criminal court. However, this total includes only cases in the 13 states that publicly report their transfers—29 additional states also transfer youth cases to adult criminal court every year. The actual number of cases transferred is estimated to be around 250,000. Kenneth Young's state, Florida, has the highest number of juveniles tried as adults and in a five-year period leading up to 2014, 60 percent of the juveniles in the state who were transferred to adult criminal court were charged with non-violent offenses.
Sentencing a juvenile to life without parole is a relatively recent practice in the United States, and it almost never happened before the 1980s. Because there is no national database tracking youth serving adult sentences and the age at which an individual is considered an adult varies by state, the exact number of youth serving life without parole is not known. However, a study published in 2013 by the Sentencing Project estimates that more than 2,500 juvenile inmates are currently serving life without parole sentences, and 7,862 total inmates are serving life sentences with the possibility of parole for crimes committed before 18 years of age.
The Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act and the Prison Rape Elimination Act were established to provide regulations and protection for juvenile offenders and convicted youth who are tried as adults. Among other things, these dictate that youth may not be housed with adult inmates and when they are in common spaces they must either be kept from seeing and communicating with the adult inmates or have direct staff supervision while with adult inmates. As a result, however, juvenile inmates may be placed in isolation, or solitary confinement, as a safety measure. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, "The potential psychiatric consequences of prolonged solitary confinement are well recognized and include depression, anxiety and psychosis." Additionally, many educational and reform programs for incarcerated youth face decreased funding, and more than 60 percent of juveniles with life sentences who responded to a survey taken in 2012 reported that they did not have access to these programs.
"
["post_title"]=>
string(22) "15 to Life: In Context"
["post_excerpt"]=>
string(20) "More about the film."
["post_status"]=>
string(7) "publish"
["comment_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["ping_status"]=>
string(6) "closed"
["post_password"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_name"]=>
string(24) "photo-gallery-in-context"
["to_ping"]=>
string(0) ""
["pinged"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_modified"]=>
string(19) "2016-08-10 10:56:35"
["post_modified_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2016-08-10 14:56:35"
["post_content_filtered"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_parent"]=>
int(0)
["guid"]=>
string(69) "http://www.pbs.org/pov/index.php/2014/08/04/photo-gallery-in-context/"
["menu_order"]=>
int(0)
["post_type"]=>
string(4) "post"
["post_mime_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["comment_count"]=>
string(1) "0"
["filter"]=>
string(3) "raw"
}
["queried_object_id"]=>
int(2770)
["request"]=>
string(486) "SELECT wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts JOIN wp_term_relationships ON wp_posts.ID = wp_term_relationships.object_id JOIN wp_term_taxonomy ON wp_term_relationships.term_taxonomy_id = wp_term_taxonomy.term_taxonomy_id AND wp_term_taxonomy.taxonomy = 'pov_film' JOIN wp_terms ON wp_term_taxonomy.term_id = wp_terms.term_id WHERE 1=1 AND wp_posts.post_name = 'photo-gallery-in-context' AND wp_posts.post_type = 'post'
AND wp_terms.slug = '15tolife'
ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC "
["posts"]=>
&array(1) {
[0]=>
object(WP_Post)#7138 (24) {
["ID"]=>
int(2770)
["post_author"]=>
string(1) "1"
["post_date"]=>
string(19) "2014-01-19 06:50:00"
["post_date_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2014-01-19 11:50:00"
["post_content"]=>
string(8570) "
Kenneth Young's Case
In June 2000, 14-year-old Kenneth Young and 24-year-old Jacques Bethea, a neighborhood crack dealer and Young's mother's supplier, committed a series of armed robberies in Tampa, Florida. Bethea brandished the pistol and on one occasion was talked out of raping one of the victims by his younger partner. Fortunately, no one was killed or seriously injured during the crimes.
At 15, Young was tried under Florida law as an adult and received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. By 2006, all of Young's appeals had been denied. In 2009, his last hope for clemency from the governor's office was also denied. Then, in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Graham v. Florida declared it unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the case of non-homicidal crimes. This ruling vacated Young's life-without-parole sentences. At his 2011 re-sentencing hearing at the age of 26, Young was resentenced to four concurrent 30-year terms, followed by 10 years of probation. Kenneth Young is set for release in 2030 and continues to seek a reduced sentence that acknowledges his rehabilitation.
The juvenile justice system in the United States was built on the idea that an individual's ability to understand right and wrong, as well as the consequences of his or her decisions, is not completely formed until adulthood, when psychological and physiological capacities are fully developed. The first juvenile court in the United States was established in 1899 in Cook County, Illinois, as a less punitive and more rehabilitative alternative for youth. Within 30 years, nearly every state in the United States had created a similar system under which the state would be expected to follow the doctrine of parens patriae, or "state as parent," meaning that disciplinary measures should reform an individual in a way that would deter him or her from future criminal involvement. Juvenile courts are "civil" in nature, meaning that attention is focused on the individual who committed the crime; this differentiates the system from the "criminal" nature of the adult justice system, which focuses more on the crimes themselves. In 1974, the U.S. Congress enacted the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which provides funding to states to carry out federal protections regarding the care and treatment of youth in the juvenile justice system.
The juvenile justice system does not allow youth to be sentenced to life without parole. In order for a juvenile to receive a life sentence, his or her case must first be transferred to an adult criminal court. Every state allows for this transfer, but the age at which an individual is considered an adult is dependent on location and circumstances. From 1985 to 1994, when politicians were using slogans such as "adult time for adult crime," the number of juvenile cases transferred to adult criminal courts nearly doubled, from 7,200 to 13,200 cases. In 2007, nearly 14,000 juvenile cases were reported to be transferred to adult criminal court. However, this total includes only cases in the 13 states that publicly report their transfers—29 additional states also transfer youth cases to adult criminal court every year. The actual number of cases transferred is estimated to be around 250,000. Kenneth Young's state, Florida, has the highest number of juveniles tried as adults and in a five-year period leading up to 2014, 60 percent of the juveniles in the state who were transferred to adult criminal court were charged with non-violent offenses.
Sentencing a juvenile to life without parole is a relatively recent practice in the United States, and it almost never happened before the 1980s. Because there is no national database tracking youth serving adult sentences and the age at which an individual is considered an adult varies by state, the exact number of youth serving life without parole is not known. However, a study published in 2013 by the Sentencing Project estimates that more than 2,500 juvenile inmates are currently serving life without parole sentences, and 7,862 total inmates are serving life sentences with the possibility of parole for crimes committed before 18 years of age.
The Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act and the Prison Rape Elimination Act were established to provide regulations and protection for juvenile offenders and convicted youth who are tried as adults. Among other things, these dictate that youth may not be housed with adult inmates and when they are in common spaces they must either be kept from seeing and communicating with the adult inmates or have direct staff supervision while with adult inmates. As a result, however, juvenile inmates may be placed in isolation, or solitary confinement, as a safety measure. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, "The potential psychiatric consequences of prolonged solitary confinement are well recognized and include depression, anxiety and psychosis." Additionally, many educational and reform programs for incarcerated youth face decreased funding, and more than 60 percent of juveniles with life sentences who responded to a survey taken in 2012 reported that they did not have access to these programs.
In June 2000, 14-year-old Kenneth Young and 24-year-old Jacques Bethea, a neighborhood crack dealer and Young's mother's supplier, committed a series of armed robberies in Tampa, Florida. Bethea brandished the pistol and on one occasion was talked out of raping one of the victims by his younger partner. Fortunately, no one was killed or seriously injured during the crimes.
At 15, Young was tried under Florida law as an adult and received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. By 2006, all of Young's appeals had been denied. In 2009, his last hope for clemency from the governor's office was also denied. Then, in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Graham v. Florida declared it unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the case of non-homicidal crimes. This ruling vacated Young's life-without-parole sentences. At his 2011 re-sentencing hearing at the age of 26, Young was resentenced to four concurrent 30-year terms, followed by 10 years of probation. Kenneth Young is set for release in 2030 and continues to seek a reduced sentence that acknowledges his rehabilitation.
The juvenile justice system in the United States was built on the idea that an individual's ability to understand right and wrong, as well as the consequences of his or her decisions, is not completely formed until adulthood, when psychological and physiological capacities are fully developed. The first juvenile court in the United States was established in 1899 in Cook County, Illinois, as a less punitive and more rehabilitative alternative for youth. Within 30 years, nearly every state in the United States had created a similar system under which the state would be expected to follow the doctrine of parens patriae, or "state as parent," meaning that disciplinary measures should reform an individual in a way that would deter him or her from future criminal involvement. Juvenile courts are "civil" in nature, meaning that attention is focused on the individual who committed the crime; this differentiates the system from the "criminal" nature of the adult justice system, which focuses more on the crimes themselves. In 1974, the U.S. Congress enacted the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which provides funding to states to carry out federal protections regarding the care and treatment of youth in the juvenile justice system.
The juvenile justice system does not allow youth to be sentenced to life without parole. In order for a juvenile to receive a life sentence, his or her case must first be transferred to an adult criminal court. Every state allows for this transfer, but the age at which an individual is considered an adult is dependent on location and circumstances. From 1985 to 1994, when politicians were using slogans such as "adult time for adult crime," the number of juvenile cases transferred to adult criminal courts nearly doubled, from 7,200 to 13,200 cases. In 2007, nearly 14,000 juvenile cases were reported to be transferred to adult criminal court. However, this total includes only cases in the 13 states that publicly report their transfers—29 additional states also transfer youth cases to adult criminal court every year. The actual number of cases transferred is estimated to be around 250,000. Kenneth Young's state, Florida, has the highest number of juveniles tried as adults and in a five-year period leading up to 2014, 60 percent of the juveniles in the state who were transferred to adult criminal court were charged with non-violent offenses.
Sentencing a juvenile to life without parole is a relatively recent practice in the United States, and it almost never happened before the 1980s. Because there is no national database tracking youth serving adult sentences and the age at which an individual is considered an adult varies by state, the exact number of youth serving life without parole is not known. However, a study published in 2013 by the Sentencing Project estimates that more than 2,500 juvenile inmates are currently serving life without parole sentences, and 7,862 total inmates are serving life sentences with the possibility of parole for crimes committed before 18 years of age.
The Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act and the Prison Rape Elimination Act were established to provide regulations and protection for juvenile offenders and convicted youth who are tried as adults. Among other things, these dictate that youth may not be housed with adult inmates and when they are in common spaces they must either be kept from seeing and communicating with the adult inmates or have direct staff supervision while with adult inmates. As a result, however, juvenile inmates may be placed in isolation, or solitary confinement, as a safety measure. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, "The potential psychiatric consequences of prolonged solitary confinement are well recognized and include depression, anxiety and psychosis." Additionally, many educational and reform programs for incarcerated youth face decreased funding, and more than 60 percent of juveniles with life sentences who responded to a survey taken in 2012 reported that they did not have access to these programs.
In June 2000, 14-year-old Kenneth Young and 24-year-old Jacques Bethea, a neighborhood crack dealer and Young's mother's supplier, committed a series of armed robberies in Tampa, Florida. Bethea brandished the pistol and on one occasion was talked out of raping one of the victims by his younger partner. Fortunately, no one was killed or seriously injured during the crimes.
At 15, Young was tried under Florida law as an adult and received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. By 2006, all of Young's appeals had been denied. In 2009, his last hope for clemency from the governor's office was also denied. Then, in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Graham v. Florida declared it unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the case of non-homicidal crimes. This ruling vacated Young's life-without-parole sentences. At his 2011 re-sentencing hearing at the age of 26, Young was resentenced to four concurrent 30-year terms, followed by 10 years of probation. Kenneth Young is set for release in 2030 and continues to seek a reduced sentence that acknowledges his rehabilitation.
The juvenile justice system in the United States was built on the idea that an individual's ability to understand right and wrong, as well as the consequences of his or her decisions, is not completely formed until adulthood, when psychological and physiological capacities are fully developed. The first juvenile court in the United States was established in 1899 in Cook County, Illinois, as a less punitive and more rehabilitative alternative for youth. Within 30 years, nearly every state in the United States had created a similar system under which the state would be expected to follow the doctrine of parens patriae, or "state as parent," meaning that disciplinary measures should reform an individual in a way that would deter him or her from future criminal involvement. Juvenile courts are "civil" in nature, meaning that attention is focused on the individual who committed the crime; this differentiates the system from the "criminal" nature of the adult justice system, which focuses more on the crimes themselves. In 1974, the U.S. Congress enacted the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, which provides funding to states to carry out federal protections regarding the care and treatment of youth in the juvenile justice system.
The juvenile justice system does not allow youth to be sentenced to life without parole. In order for a juvenile to receive a life sentence, his or her case must first be transferred to an adult criminal court. Every state allows for this transfer, but the age at which an individual is considered an adult is dependent on location and circumstances. From 1985 to 1994, when politicians were using slogans such as "adult time for adult crime," the number of juvenile cases transferred to adult criminal courts nearly doubled, from 7,200 to 13,200 cases. In 2007, nearly 14,000 juvenile cases were reported to be transferred to adult criminal court. However, this total includes only cases in the 13 states that publicly report their transfers—29 additional states also transfer youth cases to adult criminal court every year. The actual number of cases transferred is estimated to be around 250,000. Kenneth Young's state, Florida, has the highest number of juveniles tried as adults and in a five-year period leading up to 2014, 60 percent of the juveniles in the state who were transferred to adult criminal court were charged with non-violent offenses.
Sentencing a juvenile to life without parole is a relatively recent practice in the United States, and it almost never happened before the 1980s. Because there is no national database tracking youth serving adult sentences and the age at which an individual is considered an adult varies by state, the exact number of youth serving life without parole is not known. However, a study published in 2013 by the Sentencing Project estimates that more than 2,500 juvenile inmates are currently serving life without parole sentences, and 7,862 total inmates are serving life sentences with the possibility of parole for crimes committed before 18 years of age.
The Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act and the Prison Rape Elimination Act were established to provide regulations and protection for juvenile offenders and convicted youth who are tried as adults. Among other things, these dictate that youth may not be housed with adult inmates and when they are in common spaces they must either be kept from seeing and communicating with the adult inmates or have direct staff supervision while with adult inmates. As a result, however, juvenile inmates may be placed in isolation, or solitary confinement, as a safety measure. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, "The potential psychiatric consequences of prolonged solitary confinement are well recognized and include depression, anxiety and psychosis." Additionally, many educational and reform programs for incarcerated youth face decreased funding, and more than 60 percent of juveniles with life sentences who responded to a survey taken in 2012 reported that they did not have access to these programs.
