Child Evidence
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Deterrence & the Penological Aims of Sentencing

Deterrence and the penological aims of juvenile sentencing. In the Eighth Amendment line from Roper through Graham and Miller, the Supreme Court has reasoned that the penological justifications for the harshest sentences -- including deterrence -- apply with diminished force to juveniles. The Court derives this from developmental immaturity, not from deterrence studies: it reasons that the same characteristics that render juveniles less culpable suggest they will be less susceptible to deterrence, and Roper expressly notes the absence of evidence of a deterrent effect in this context. Child Evidence represents this as a legal/doctrinal proposition built on that inference -- NOT as a developmental-science evidence card. The upstream science the inference draws on (immature risk-reward weighing and future-orientation, immature self-regulation, ongoing brain maturation, transient character) is strong and is rated on the claim pages below. But the direct empirical claim that juveniles are categorically less deterrable by the severity of threatened punishment is itself weak and contested -- the direct adolescent-deterrence literature finds youth do respond to perceived sanction certainty. Because that direct claim could not honestly carry a High or even Moderate rating, it is deliberately not minted as a rated card.

How courts have reasoned

Verified passages where courts have addressed this issue. The citator badge reflects how later courts have treated each decision.

  • Roper v. Simmons543 U.S. 551 (2005)Neutral · 3,557 citing

    Deterrence applies with lesser force to juveniles. The Court emphasized "the absence of evidence of deterrent effect" and reasoned that "the same characteristics that render juveniles less culpable than adults suggest as well that juveniles will be less susceptible to deterrence," adding that the likelihood a teenage offender "has made the kind of cost-benefit analysis that attaches any weight to the possibility of execution is so remote as to be virtually nonexistent." (Majority; supporting analysis.)

    543 U.S. at 571Verified passage
  • Graham v. Florida560 U.S. 48 (2010)Caution · 3,999 citing

    Deterrence does not suffice to justify juvenile LWOP for nonhomicide offenses. Quoting Roper, the Court reasoned that because juveniles' "lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility . . . often result in impetuous and ill-considered actions and decisions," they are "less likely to take a possible punishment into consideration when making decisions." (Majority; supporting analysis.)

    560 U.S. at 72Verified passage
  • Miller v. Alabama567 U.S. 460 (2012)Caution · 6,696 citing

    Distinctive attributes of youth diminish the penological justifications for the harshest sentences: "Nor can deterrence do the work in this context, because the same characteristics that render juveniles less culpable than adults -- their immaturity, recklessness, and impetuosity -- make them less likely to consider potential punishment." (Majority; supporting analysis; quoting Graham and Roper.)

    Verified passage

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