Neuroscience Suggests the Justice System May Be Too Harsh on Young Adults
Photo: Melanie Stetson Freeman/Christian Science Monitor/Getty For a long time, the United States’ justice system has been notorious for its proclivity for imprisoning children. Because of laws that grant prosecutors and judges discretion to bump juveniles up to the category of “adult” when they commit crimes deemed serious enough by the authorities, the U.S. is an outlier in locking up kids, with some youthful defendants even getting life sentences. Naturally, this has attracted a great deal of outrage and advocacy from human-rights organizations, who argue that kids, by virtue of not lacking certain judgment, foresight, and decision-making abilities, should be treated a bit more leniently. Writing for the Marshall Project and drawing on some interesting brain science, Dana Goldstein takes the argument about youth incarceration even further: We should also…
Link to Full Article: Neuroscience Suggests the Justice System May Be Too Harsh on Young Adults
Neuroscience Suggests the Justice System May Be Too Harsh on Young Adults
