U.S. Among Harshest for Sentencing Children

[Joanne98]

The American Prison Gulag, the shame of the planet, reveals its utter barbarity in condemning thousands of children to permanent imprisonment. The U.S. "justice" system far outpaces the world in handing down life sentences to those who are not yet adults. "South Africa has four, Tanzania has one, and Israel has seven. In contrast, the United States has 2,270 children serving such a sentence." In gross violation of international conventions, American child sentencing practices are "inhumane and inconsistent with civilized society and thus rejected by the rest of the world." Rightwing, racist ideology has "created a political culture where politicians compete over who is more ruthless in sentencing offenders." The primary mechanisms for permanent child incarceration are felony murder statues, abhorred as unjust by most of the globe.

"Sentencing children to permanent imprisonment is inconsistent with civilized society."

To many in the United States, the country of Somalia conjures up images of a primitive Third World country. So it may come as a surprise to learn that Somalia and the United States share an unfortunate commonality - they are the only countries in the world that refuse to sign the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child because of its ban on sentencing children to die in prison.

Under the U.N. covenant, sentencing children, even those who commit serious crimes, to permanent imprisonment is considered inhumane and inconsistent with civilized society and thus rejected by the rest of the world.

According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, there are now about a dozen people outside the United States and Somalia who were sentenced to permanent imprisonment as children: South Africa has four, Tanzania has one, and Israel has seven. In contrast, the United States has 2,270 children serving such a sentence, including 227 in California.

The United States is out of step with the rest of the world in the treatment of children because of recent changes in American political and legal culture. Although the legal capacity to sentence children to permanent imprisonment existed before 1980, it was rarely invoked. This changed with the rise of the conservative movement in American politics and its adherents' strident belief in the deterrent effect of harsh sentencing policies.

"The United States has 2,270 children serving such a sentence."

The rhetorical emphasis of conservative philosophy on punishment and vengeance has created a political culture where politicians compete over who is more ruthless in sentencing offenders. The public policies resulting from this new political culture have led to the harshest sentencing practices in U.S. history.


Nowhere are these harsh policies more evident than in the treatment of children. Before 1990, few children were sentenced to die in prison.

When recently asked to explain the United States' noncompliance with international law on the sentencing of children to permanent imprisonment, the Bush administration claimed that the sentences were reserved for only the most hardened young offenders who "had committed gravely serious crimes." Despite the Bush administration's claims, the evidence suggests otherwise.
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=541&Itemid=1

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. C'mon. Lets get real.

This is a barbaric and brutal country. Let's stop candy coating what we have become. If we aren't destroying lives, as a function of government, we are less-than-vaguely dissatisfied with things.

[Briar]

2. Hm, I wonder if the makers of

"Dexter" will show him murdering a child who kills. It's certainly proved easy to whip up rabid hatred of such kids - so presumably tv's favourite sociopath will be allowed to torture and abuse one of them to death, and get high ratings while doing so. The show certainly reveals the barbaric brutality at the heart of western notions of "law and order".

[Skittles]

3. bad because I believe most child offenders can be rehabilitated

yes