Does Life Without Parole Violate the 8th Amendment?

I think that life without parole for crimes committed when a juvenile is a violation of the 8th amendment and is cruel and unusual punishment. Take the case of Joe Sullivan. He was thirteen when he was convicted of the rape of the elderly woman in her home in West Pensacola, Florida. He’s now 33, been the victim of several sexual assaults, and has multiple sclerosis but he was 13 when he did it. He’s had 20 years to reflect on what he’s done. According to a 1989 survey by the Department of Justice, the median sentence in state prisons for those convicted of rape was 72 months, but the average time served was 29 months. (http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/02/weekinreview/the-nation-jail-sentences-for-sex-crimes-are-rarely-very-harsh.html?pagewanted=1)

If most prisoners who were convicted for rape were given a sentence of six years doesn’t it seem unusual that Joe got a life sentence for something he did when he was thirteen? If he crossed the line and had to be treated like an adult why wasn’t he given an adult sentence? He has been denied a life. Six years and he would have been 18 and could have started/finished high school, done rehabilitation classes, gone to college and moved on past this part of his life. Now he is still in jail and has been sexually assaulted himself. Isn’t that enough punishment? I think that letting him rot in prison for the rest of his life for something he did when teens are all but irresponsible is cruel and unusual punishment and violates the 8th amendment.

International Woman's Day Appreciation

Blog it! It's International Woman's Day. Write about the woman you appreciate today and why.

The woman I appreciate is my mom. She’s one person who I can talk to when I can’t talk to anybody else. She always packs my lunch. She lets me buy books on my kindle. She makes me breakfast. She does all these things for me that I can’t say enough about. She raised me. Helps me with my homework when she can. She takes me places. She is always supporting me. I don’t thank her enough for what she does for me. That’s why I try to appreciate all the stuff she does for me. I do appreciate it. She’s a trooper taking care of me, my sis, my dad, and my cat without ever stopping for herself and still working. My mom is an amazing woman.

Is the U.S. Still a White Supremacist Country?

It is hard to deny that the U.S. was a white supremacist nation when the enslavement of black people was legal. But what about now? Is the U.S. still a white supremacist country? What evidence do you have to support your point of view?

Remember the definition of “white supremacy:”

The belief that white people are superior to (better than) black people and other people of color.

A system in which white people have social and political dominance over black people and other people of color.

I think that the U.S is still pretty much a white supremacist nation. White people, I think, don’t impose themselves on other races but the fact is that there is many more white people than blacks and other races. This table shows it. White people far outnumber every other category of race.

Race and Ethnicity Chart Published by the U.S. Census

The only reason we have social and political dominance is because of sheer numbers. The population ratio just moves up into the government. People I think are also more comfortable with their own race because they can identify on that level with somebody like how students sit in race groups during lunch. There is some intermingling but not much. There are also perceived stereotypes about races of all colors but I think a predominant one is that all men but predominantly black and latino men are dangerous depending on the way they dress or time of day. White people’s opinions have also built up barriers against other races so they trust white folk much more in just about everything like workplaces, giving white people social dominance. I don’t think that white supremacy has gone away at all. It’s still alive and very much kicking in the U.S. You always hear first latino woman to enter office or first black president and doesn’t that tell you how long we’ve had a step up on other races? But nowadays it’s all about minorities. While we may still have white supremacy in some aspects the minorities have the attention. White people are the subject of forced guilt and reverse racism. People playing the race card “It’s because I’m black isn’t it?” and no, most of the time it’s not. We get racism shoved down our throats because sometimes if we don’t care then we are guilty of a crime against humanity and are made to care. Otherwise we are “racist” and no one wants to be called a racist. So while white supremacy might rule, minorities have us whipped and wrapped around their pinkie fingers pretty good and we may never placate them. I use my own experience and observations to back up my claims. They are my own opinions and I get freedom of thought right?

My Job Talk

As a full time high school student I had never worked a day in my life. When internships rolled around I didn’t really know what to expect. Internships ran differently from last year so I couldn’t really ask the seniors how their internships had gone. They had just gone twice a week for an afternoon, but I was just about to be thrown headfirst into a three week full immersion.

Even on the first day I was struck by the easy work pace. Even though my internship site was a non-profit museum I had imagined a sprint. With fast paced America being what it is. Instead, it was not a sprint but a saunter. There was a destination, but not that much of a rush to get there. On the first day my mentor gave us the rundown on the computers we would be using and went to his office. I sat down to work and expected to feel a predatory gaze on my back but it never came. I had expected my mentor to be constantly hovering to make sure that we did nothing wrong, but he didn’t. When lunchtime rolled around all we had to do was tell him we were going to lunch. He didn’t ask where and we didn’t need a permission slip or a note. I could go to the bathroom without having to ask. I could walk around without anybody having to know where I’d be going, where I would be later or why I was there. Nobody was asking me to justify where I was going or what I was doing.

This sense of freedom at my internship was a joyous break from everything else. School regulations evaporated like the morning mist in the sun. I realized that the workplace was nothing like school. I had thought it would be like school - straight laced, a set lunch time, breaks in between structured periods...Everything inside me said that it was going to be just like school. They were going to be teachers and not mentors - assigning homework, maybe making us put up our chairs at the end of the day or when we left...These things seem perfectly normal in a school environment but they don’t really apply to a workplace. I realized that almost the first day. Going through my first day in a sort of haze of bewilderment, it took me awhile to get used to this change. There is a gate in front of the museum that doesn’t open till 9am. I didn’t know that volunteers, that’s what I was, could go freely through the gate. I would wait outside until someone working for the museum walked up and opened the gate for me because I thought that I was not authorized to enter the gate by myself. It was not until the last week that I finally started letting myself in and breaking away from the “I’m going to get in trouble” thoughts. In school you can’t do that. You have to ask permission, otherwise there are consequences. At internships, mentors leave you on your own for the most part and you have to find your own way. The workplace has a very different atmosphere.

The sense of freedom was something that I had never really gotten before. Most of my life, as like other teens, I’ve been in school. It’s Monday through Friday, no breaks except for the occasional staff day. Teachers are always watching you because they’re responsible for you. With my internship I could go somewhere and no one would send me back to the library. This freedom just felt good. There was a spontaneity. It was nice to just leave for lunch and not have to stay on campus. It was nice for people to look at me as a co-worker instead of a student. It was nice to be on my own.

The rules and more rules at school and at home didn’t apply to me at internship. I was seen as a responsible adult and not as an impulsive young person. I understand that the school has to take care of us, but sometimes the rules upon rules and homework and schoolwork just pile up on you until you feel like you can’t move. Internship was a chance to relax. This newfound freedom really allowed me to enjoy my internship and showed me that the world is much bigger than I think it is.