Newspapers and broadcasts teem with stories about teens and young adults committing crimes — many of them horrible and violent. Justice demands a fair trial, and if juries convict, then the appropriate sentence must be meted out. If the crime is heinous enough to warrant a longer sentence, so be it.
But we all know that teens and young adults are prone to making rash, irrational choices. There has to be a balance between a punishment that fits the crime and a sentence that takes into account a young person’s immaturity. Are there times when circumstances surrounding a young person’s crime warrant a second chance, an opportunity for an inmate to make a case for an earlier release?
State Rep. Seth Lewis, a Republican from northwest suburban Bartlett, thinks that, indeed, second chances have their place in Illinois’ justice system.
