LWOP - Pronounced El-wop

Let's just jump right in. Below is Sara. She was a juvenile when she was sentenced to Life Without the possibility of Parole. Right now somewhere between 1200 and 2200 juveniles are serving such sentences. One argument for why the United States is the only country in the world to have this sentence for minors is that we have a unique teen crime problem. We do. We have a unique crime problem in general. More people (statistically) are living in incarceration here than anywhere else in the world. Many of those start their descent into a life of crime before they reach the age of 18. But our prisons are bursting, funding is falling, the justice system is clogged and undeniably ineffective. 70% that come out go right back in. So certainly some questions are in order. Watch the video.

There are two philosophical theories for why we justify punishment for crime. Teleological and Deontological. Big words for deterrence and retribution. Deterrence is concerned with the consequences (the future). If you lie, your friends won't like you. If we let the bank robber go, he will rob another bank or someone else will rob a bank thinking they can get away with it. Retribution is nonconsequential. Certain acts are right or wrong in their core and must be punished. Lying is bad, even if no one is hurt. The 80 year-old man who killed his wife should get 20 years even though he poses no threat to society.

People might be motivated more by one or the other, but our current system does not work without both. These are human instincts at work. We want to protect (deter), we also want justice (retribution). Both have their weaknesses. Retribution is often emotionally driven and sometime is without utility for society as a whole. Deterrence assumes that people generally calculate their crimes and take the time to weigh the consequence.

Young people in particular seem unable to weigh the consequences of their decision. This begs the question: why are we putting juveniles away for life? Doesn't seem like much of a deterrence. I am doubtful that many young people have knowledge of LWOP and use it to decide not to murder their pimps. Retribution? Sara killed someone. On some level it seems just that she should pay for it with gravity. And what has more gravity than the rest of her life...

But this sense of justice does not ring true for me. Here is what is happening. As a society we are feeling insecure. The economy, immigration (cultural tension), less faith in our government... As voters we have encouraged our politicians to be tough on crime, to protect us. This has led the legislatures to pass mandatory sentences for certain crimes. Many judges are no longer allowed to consider the entirety of Sara's situation. She committed murder and the law says either 25 years to life or LWOP. That is the mandatory sentence for her crime. For reasons beyond me she ended up with LWOP.

My instincts are that mandatory sentencing undercuts our judicial system. But I am just beginning to learn more about this and I could go on about this for awhile, but instead I will say that my heart hurts for Sara and for the other kids who have little to hope for as they wait out their lives in cells. There must be a better way.