Writing Situation: In the last three years, California has passed the first two bills in three decades (the second of which we followed in the documentary They Call Us Monsters) to decrease juvenile sentences. This movement has re-sparked a national debate over the very nature of our most violent juvenile offenders. The only group silent from the debate are the minors themselves. A list of juvenile sentencing reform legislation passed in California since 2012:
SB-9 (2012): Eliminates the life without parole sentence for juvenile offenders (except for those with special circumstances).
SB-260 (2013): Provides parole board hearings at 15 or 25-years for juvenile offenders tried as adults.
SB-261 (2015): Expanding the age of those eligible for SB-260 to 22-years old, affecting an additional 16,000 inmates.
Writing Prompt: Is California moving in the right direction by making it easier for people who have committed heinous crimes as juveniles to be eligible for parole as adults? Write an essay analyzing the changes being made to the system. Be sure to indicate whether you think California is moving in the right direction or not. Support your position, providing reasons and examples from your own experience and observations, discussions you have participated in, and texts you have read for this module. Your essay should be as clearly focused, well organized, and carefully written as you can make it.
