ENG 1020- RJA #15a

After completeing the course of ENG 1020, I feel that I have really learned who I am as a writer. I have learned how to use the internet as a useful research tool, and I have become aware of countless online databases that are good to use for research. I have created my first online blog, I have created a very useful Delicious social bookmarking account which I can utilize for future work. I have learned extensively about the intriguing topic of Juvenile Life without Parole prison sentences, and learned how to develop a well-thought out research paper. From basic research, to finding acceptable sources, to creating MLA documentation, I feel that we, as a class, really covered all the needed and required skills to create a research paper I can be proud of.

I really enjoyed this class, and I want to thank you Professor Clark for helping me advance my writing skills. I will have these skills for future classes and as I head in to the real-world work force.

ENG 1020-RJA#14b

(2010). Does Sentencing a 13-Year-Old Offender to Life Without Parole Constitute "Cruel and Unusual Punishment"?. Supreme Court Debates, 13(1), 2-3. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.


Joan, B. (n.d). Juvenile life sentences go to high court. USA Today, Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

(2010). Should juveniles be sentenced to life without parole for non-homicide crimes?. CQ Researcher, 20(9), 209. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

LIPTAK, A. (2009, May 5). Justices Agree to Take Up Life-Without-Parole Sentences for Young Offenders. New York Times, p. 16. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Billitteri, T. (2010). Defendants Seek Review of Life Sentences. CQ Researcher, 20(9), 204-205. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

ENG 1020-RJA#14a

For my application project, I have chosen to do an editorial. It is a basic editorial, where I have expressed my opinions and thoughts on the topic of juvenile life without parole prison sentences. The morality of juvenile lwop, the pros of it, the cons of it, and some statistics are only a fraction of things that are in my editorial. This application project has been sort of a "cool-down" session now that the research paper is over and done with, and it has been fun being able to pretend I am writing an editorial that thousands of people will read.

What I have accomplished so far for my application project is about 575 words. Knowing that the rough draft is due on Thursday May 6th, I am feeling very confident with where I am now. Over the next few days, I will be finishing my paper reaching the 1200 word minimum. I will have to write the accompanying essay as well. After that, I will be ready to hand in my application project.

What I still need to do for my application project is the accompanying essay. I will need to add more words to the editorial to reach the 1200 word minimum. I need to have a couple friends to read my work, I always feel like it is crucial to have multiple pairs of eyes to look over my written work. They can usually catch a grammatical mistake or two that I might not ever have caught. After all this, I will turn in my final application project.

ENG 1020-RJA#13c

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/6714196.html

The link above is an Editorial relating to my topic of Juvenile Life without Parole prison sentences. The author of the editorial touched many of the main points I will be focusing on in my editorial. The format of the editorial in the above link is similar to what I want to do. I will need to make it longer than this one to achieve the 1,200 word minimum requirement. I like the organization of this editorial, and I plan to mimik in in some fashion. The content is dead on with what I will be writing about, but I plan to expand more on the subject.

ENG 1020-RJA#13b

For my application project on the topic of the morality of juvenile life without parole prison sentences I plan on writing an intensive editorial. I will state my opinions and give perspectives on the scope of the problem. I plan on making it a piece of writing intended to promote my perspective and opinion on the topic. I will create attributes of the concept and organize data about the concept. I will take a side on the topic and will express opinions that may be intended to persuade my readers. I am going to imagine I am writing an editorial for a famous newspaper in which hundreds of thousands of people will be reading.

ENG 1020-RJA#13a

My Unique Wordle...

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1948683/Luc_Arnaud%27s_Wordle

ENG 1020-RJA#12a

A Juvenile Life Without Parole." NPR. 8 Nov. 2009. Web. 2 April 2010 http

Champion, Dean J. American Correctional System. Custom Edition for Metropolitan State College. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.

Compassion in Juvenile Sentencing. N.p., 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. .

"Fact Sheet: A Summary of the Rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child." UNICEF. UNICEF, Web. 2 Apr. 2010. .

Hubner, John. "Discarded Lives." Amnesty International USA Spring 2006. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.

"Juvenile Life without Parole Factsheet." Citizens for Juvenile Justice. N.p., Dec. 2008. Web. 2 Apr. 2010. .

"Law should recognize children are not adults." The Capital Times 1 Feb. 2010 [Madison, WI] . Web. 5 Apr. 2010

“Mandatory Minimum Sentences ". Drug Policy Alliance Network. 22 March 2010

ENG 1020-RJA#11a

Meadows, Robert J. "Felony-Murder Rule." Reckless Indifference. Choices, Inc, 1 Feb. 2006. Web. 29 Mar. 2010. .

***This was a document explaining the felony-murder rule in the United States. It skimmed over the history of how the rule origionated and why it is so prominent in affecting juveniles who are tired in adult court. Mostly an overlay of what the felony-murder rule is.

Steinberg, Laurence. Should Juvenile Offenders Be Tried as Adults? N.p.: CBS Interactive Inc., 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2010. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2668_129/ai_69698409/>.

***Laurence Steinberg raised the important question of whether or not juveniles should be tried as adults in adult courts. He weights the pros and cons, providing strong points for each side. Juveniles are not adults and with that said there is no logical reason why a juvenile would be tried in adult court, they are a child!

"The Issue ." The National Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. PDF. Gil Jawetz. Tide Center , n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. d.yimg.com/kq/groups/.../National+Campaign+one-pager+FINAL.pdf .

***The National Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of youth was a great website to find and utilize for my paper. The campaign is to promote fair sentencing for youth offenders in the United States and also throughout the world. It has gained much attention of the past few years, and every day more people are supporting it.

"The Issue ." The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. Ed. Gil Jawetz. Tide Center , n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. http://www.endjlwop.org/the-issue/.

***This is the same website as the above citation, but is was a seperate file on the site. It asked rehtorial questions and answered them thorughly. Questions like 'what is the campaign for the fair sentencing of youth trying to solve?' and 'why is juvenile LWOP inappropriate for youth?'. These questions really made me think and gave me a fantastic start for my paper.

When Kids Get Life. Narr. Trevor Jones. Frontline, 2007. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. .

***When Frontline teamed up with PBS and released a documentary titled When Kids Get Life, it got a lot of people talking. The documentary examined 5 Colorado criminal offenders who were sentenced to life in prison witout the possibility of parole for crimes they committed as juveniles. The filmed portrayed first hand how prominent this issue is in the state of Colorado alone, not to mention other states where they have a much greater number of people in prison for life for crimes committed as a juvenile.

ENG 1020-RJA#10c

Four Ideas for Application Project

1. Write a series of personal letters portraying a prisoner who is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for a crime they committed prior to thier 18th birthday.
2. Write an editorial expressing my opinions on juvenile Life without Parole sentences. Explain and demonstrate reasons why I think this should be abolished; and explain to people ways they can support the abolishment.
3. I could write pretend news articles about various topics within the subject of Juvenile Life without Parole sentences.
4. I could write a short story about someone who was sentenced to life without parole at a very young age. From a first person or second person view. The first person view would be from the prisoners perspective and the second person view could be from the perspective of a correctional officer who sees and supervises this inmate day in and day out.

ENG 1020-RJA#10b

Accomplishments

• I have a fantastic start on my paper. I have nearly 4.5 pages written as of now
• I have stated my thesis
• I have backed up my thesis
• I have a solid introduction that states how my paper is going to flow
• I have many resources saved in my delicious.com account that are full of more information I can use to complete my paper

Still need to do

• I still need to complete my paper 100%-- Currently I am about 30% of the way there
• I need to utilize 9 more sources for the required 12 sources
• I need to interview a person working in the CJ system that can answer some critical questions for my paper
• I need to turn in my draft in the week of April the 13th
• My final product needs to be turned in online through blackboard by the week of April the 20th

ENG 1020- RJA #10a

Hansen, Liane. A Juvenile Life without Parole. National Public Radio, 8 Nov. 2009. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120220329

• Liane Hansen was the author of this website document, and it is on the National Public Radio website. She talked about how the Supreme Court is going to start to listen to cases about how if juvenile life without parole is violating peoples 8th Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. She mentioned that there are nearly 2,500 people locked up for LWOP for crimes they committed prior to thier 18th birthday.

Hubner, John. Discarded Lives- Children Sentenced to Life without Parole. Amnesty International, USA, 2006. Google. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. http://www.amnestyusa.org/amnesty-magazine/spring-2006/discarded-lives-children-sentenced-to-life-without-parole/page.do?id=1105357

• John Hubner wrote an article titled Discarded Lives. It was about a 16 year old boy who was sentenced to serve life imprisonment without parole for hitting and killing another boy with his car while under the influence of alcohol. He debated whether it was just for the boy to recieve juvenile life without parole (LWOP), and concluded that is was not just. Hit and runs happen every single day in America. The life sentence was not a deterrent in any fashion.

Meadows, Ph.D., Robert J. Felony Murder Rule. Beverly Hills: Choices, Inc., 2006. 1. Web. 5 Apr. 2010.

• Robert Meadows wrote this article titled 'Felonly Murder Rule'. It was about exactly what the title stated. It gave the history of the felony murder rule and mentioned how it was dated back to 12th Century England. It gave a prime definition of the felonly murder doctorine and contained much information aboout various aspects of the murder rule. He also noted that there are many relevant decided court cases that have really affected how the felony murder rule is used today.

ENG 1020--RJA #8b Evaluation Check

Yip's english blog -- http://yipenglishblog.blogspot.com/

Tim's english blog -- http://tad19.blogspot.com/

ENG 1020--RJA #8a

Lotts is one of at least 73 U.S. inmates -- most of them minorities -- who were sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison for crimes committed when they were 13 or 14, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization in Alabama that defends indigent defendants and prisoners. Lotts is part of a trend that has developed over the past two decades. Numerous studies have shown that in the 1970s and 1980s, minors were rarely given life sentences, let alone life without parole, experts said. By the early 1990s, according to the Department of Justice, an alarming spike in juvenile homicides spawned a nationwide crackdown, including a movement to try kids in adult courts. (http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/08/teens.life.sentence/index.html)

• In today's world, there are a scary number of juveniles serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. This is something that would make a man who died in the 70s scratch his head. During that time juveniles never really recieved harsh capital punishments. "Numerous studies have shown that in the 1970s and 1980s, minors were rarely given life sentences, let alone life without parole, experts said." Even since the start of the 1990s, juveniles started to recieve the harshest penalties America can offer because of the disturbing amount of juvenile homocides which began to sporadically come about. This was highly due to gangs across America.

• Paraphrase-- Over the past four decades, juveniles and capital punishment have came a long way. In the 70s and 80s it was not often that a juvenile was given a life sentence without parole, but now its not uncommon to see a juvenile being tried in an adult court. It happens quite frequently because of a spike in juvenile homocides across the United States.

• Summarize-- There are over seventy inmates in United States prisons serving life sentences without parole for crimes they committed at the age of 13 and 14, one being Quantel Lotts. Lotts is part of a trend of juveniles being sentenced extremely harshly in adult court. This is happening because of a nation wide spike in the 90s of juvenile homocides across America. This is a big change from how it was in the 70s and 80s when it was rare to see a juvenile be sentenced to life without parole.

Internet Research Zakta Project

Luc Arnaud's Zakta Guide

http://zakta.com/zakta/view_1_1099_3087_Juvenile_Life_Sentences

ENG 1020- RJA #7b

http://dickeng1020.blogspot.com/2010/03/rja-6c-httpdickeng1020blogspotcom.html

http://yipenglishblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/rja-6c-field-research-options.html#comment-form

ENG 1020-RJA #7a

Reference Article Evaluation

The reference article from infoplease.dictionary.com seems to be a reliable source. Infoplease.dictionary.com is a valid and reliable website to use because it is affiliated with Pearson Education and I know first hand what a good reliable company they are. The website has a copyright of 2000-2009 so I know that it is fairly up to date. I do not see a particular author who wrote the reference article, which is the only thing that makes me feel on edge about using it in my paper.
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0826826.html

Book Evaluation

Victor L. Streib's book, The Juvenile Death Penalty Today, is a very credible source because Streib is a very credible man. He is a Professor of Law at the University of Northern Ohio is a attorney specializing in violent crime and the death penalty. The book is a little on the older side, being published in the year of 1987 by the Indiana University Press, but most of the information is still up to date when its comes to juveniles and capital crimes.
V.L. Streib. The Juvenile Death Penalty Today. Duke University of Professional Law. 1987.

Periodical Article Evaluation

The periodical article from Jstor titled, The Juvenile Death Penalty and International Law, written by Curtis Bradley, is a very credible source of information simply becasue of where it came from. I have never had any problems with any articles from Jstor. The article was written in late 2002 which means that the information is very trust-worthy and accurate. Anything that comes from Jstor seems to be very credible.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1373162

Web Site Evaluation

A website I used is called 'policyalmanac.org and I typed in 'life in prison without possibility of release. The excerpt was from Juveniles and the Death Penalty--Coordinating Council on Juvenile Delinquency Prevention-November 2000. This website has solid information about my topic, and it all seems to be on point. It does not say whether its updated frequently but all the information current from at least the year 2000.
http://www.policyalmanac.org/crime/archive/life_imprisonment.shtml

ENG 1020--RJA #6c

Three options for field research on my topic

• video-When Kids get Life. Presented by PBS and Frontline, the story of five prisoners who were sentenced to life in prison without parole for crimes they committed as minors.
• Interview with a prison staff member
• Radio Show debating the ethical issues regarding juvenile life imprisonment and the juvenile death penalty

RJA #6b

Social Media

Blogged
the execution of juveniles
search engine math was the technique I used to narrow my search
March 1, 2010
Twelve hits
relevance--4


Globe of Blogs
Abolishing the juvenile death penalty
regular search
March 1, 2010
50+ hits
Relevance--2


Video Surf-Beta
Juveniles and the death penalty
regular search
March 1, 2010
fourty-one hits
very relevant--.5!!

ENG 1020- RJA #6a

Websites


Bing

Juveniles and the Death Penalty

I went to Bing.com and used key words to conduct my search

February 25, 2010

well over 300,000 hits

Relevance--(2)




Bing

Juveniles and the Death Penalty written by Lynn Cothern

I used Bing.com and used search engine math to conduct this search

February 25, 2010

again, 384,000 hits

Relevance--(2)





Meta/Multi Search Engine


Carrot Clustering Engine

I used the Meta/Multi search engine list and chose carrot clustering. Then I typed in some key words to search for my topic-Juvenile offenders in todays world

February 25, 2010

there was 100 hits

very relevant--(2)




Monster Crawler
I used regular key words in monster crawler-Death sentences and executions for juvenile offenders

February 25, 2010

69 hits

Relevance--(1)

Directories

Internet Public Library

I typed in "executing juvnile offenders"

February 28, 2010

473 hits

Relevance-- 3

ENG 1020 RJA #5c

Reference Article
juvenile crime
juvenile delinquency
Pearson Education: 2000-2006
2-21-2010

dictionary.infoplease.com
juvenile crime/juvenile offenders/youth adjudication
120+ hits
relavance = 2

ENG 1020- RJA #5b

Periodical Article
Curtis A Bradley
The Juvenile Death Penalty and International Law Duke Law Journal
Volume 52. No. 3
PP. 485-557 Durham, North Carolina Duke University School of Law http://www.jstor.org/stable/1373162?origin=pubexport&cookieSet=1
Auraria Library search--World Libraries
2/18/201o

ENG 1020- RJA #5a Books

Book 1
V L Streib
Death Penalty for Juveniles
Vol. 1
March, 2002:Bloomington, IN
1987

ENG 1020- RJA #4c Research Question Check

Awaiting Approvals

Dick Blluger
http://dickeng1020.blogspot.com/2010/02/rja3b-rja3c.html#comment-form

J. Madison

http://jmadison411.blogspot.com/2010/02/rja-3c-research-question.html#comment-form

ENG 1020- RJA #4b

SEARCH STRINGS

Math

+youth +imprisonment/incarceration +life

+juvenile +adjudication

+when kids get life


Boolean

(juveniles OR youths) in the Department of Youth Corrections NOT (DOC)

adjudication NOT conviction

ENG 1020- RJA #4a

FO- Kid, kids, children.
crime, crimes, committing a crime
RE , ST- adolscents, juvenile(crime), youth, minors, kids, children,
young people, youngster.

Ladder of Generalization

Criminal Justice System

Juvenile Justice System

Department of Youth Corrections

Juvenile Law

Juvenile Courts

Juvenile Adjudication

Life imprisonment/juvenile death penalty

ENG 1020 - RJA #3c

1.)
Who has the power to abolish life imprisonment of juvenile offenders?

What are some proactive things that people can do to help end this?

When will people start to realize that it's not ok to put a minor to death?

Where (which states) is putting a juvenile to death not against the law?

Why is the U.S. the only country other than Somalia that will put a minor to death?

How was this never deemed "against" what the Consitiution is all about?

Should the people of America vote to make minors being sentenced to death/lifetime incarceration obsolete?


Should the people of America vote to make minors being sentenced to death/lifetime incarceration obsolete?

This question really stands out and interests me the most because if there is ever going to be any change, its going to take everyone to get it done.

RJA #3b

Life Imprisonment for Juvenile Offenders. Juvenile Death Penalty

Questions I came up with.

• Should minors be sentenced to death?
• Should a person spend most of thier life in prison for a crime they committed when they were young?
• Does this violate a persons right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the 8th Amendment of the United States Constitution?

What my classmate added.

• Minors should not get the death penalty; they should not be charged as adults.
• Why do they, or why should they be tried as an adult?
• They should never get more than two years, unless they become a repeat-offender.

What another classmate added.

• It all depends on the age. e.g. 16-19. Old enough to know right from wrong.
• No juvenile death penalty.
• No lifetime imprisonment unless criminal behavior continues.
• Death penalty is never moral.

Do different states have different opinions on the death penalty?

What criteria is involved when sentencing a juvenile to death?

RJA #3a Research Topic Exploration

I began my research online at a number of different websites. I googled "kids on death row" and "juvenile incarceration rates", and a lot of good information came up. This gave me a lot of facts on how the different states have different ways of dealing with juvenile offenders. I found a number of websites that I am confident will have more great information on my topic. I also set up an account on 'delicious'. I am pleased I have this account now because I firmly believe it will makes things easier. Being able to keep track of all the best websites I have visited really puts me at an advantage. I tried to wikipedia my topic to get started but I didn't feel like there was adequate information to help me, but this is no big deal.

ENG 1020, RJA #2b

The topic I chose for my research paper is, "Is sentencing juvenile offenders to death or life in prison a truly moral thing to do?" I do have an initial opinion on this issue, but I know there is a ton more information I can acquire to see where I fully stand on the topic. The main reason I chose this topic is because it is related to my major, Criminal Justice and Criminology, and it is something that really interests me. I also decided to pick this because it is very controversial and it is a fairly broad issue, and both of these fit the requirements.


The issue is whether or not life in prison and executing juveniles is uncivilized and immoral (cruel and unusual).

Things I know about the topic:

• There are in fact, over 2,000 juveniles serving LWOP (life without parole) in the United States.
• 41 of the 50 states allow LWOP sentencing.
• The United States Supreme Court has banned the executions of juveniles 15 and younger.
• There are many moms and dads that will only see there child through a clear window for the rest of thier lives.

There are many things that I do not already know about this topic and in which I intend to learn. I hope to find out if there are any programs or advocates that fight for or against this topic. How many states allow the execution of minors? Why is the United States, along with Somalia, the only nation who never signed the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which protects all childs from LWOP. Will the U.S ever sign this Convention? If so, when?

Interests

• lifetime juvenile incarceration




• professional baseball




• hubbel space telescope




• world resource conservation



• electronics/technology