Juvenile Justice System Case Study

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Research has been done into brain development. It has been proven that the human brain is not fully formed until the age of 25. With that being said, New York and North Carolina are the only states that process individuals as young as 16 in the adult criminal justice system. New York specifically continues to be the only state other than North Carolina that prosecutes all youth as adults when they turn 16 years of age. Yearly, over a thousand cases are decided of juvenile’s aged 16-17 who is trialed as adults. The majority of those cases are sentenced to adult facilities. It also happens that most are African American or Hispanic.

In March 2014, Marquis Dixon 17, from Albany New York arranged a meeting through Facebook to buy the sneakers. Marquis Dixon met with the other 17 year old at a McDonald’s parking lot. At around 9:30 p.m., he showed up to the parking lot with what looked like a handgun. Dixon then fled the parking with the sneakers. The other teen was unharmed. Soon after, Dixon was arrested and charged as an adult with first-degree robbery. In November a jury of adults found Dixon guilty of …show more content…

But, in no way does he deserve to get 9 years in prison for stealing a pair of $200 shoes. For his age and for this crime, juvenile detention and community service would have been a start. Now if this was not Dixon’s first time reprimanded then the punishment sounds reasonable to teach him a lesson. For example, Ethan Couch a teen who was driving while intoxicated, caused a crash, killing four people and injuring two. Couch only received rehab and probation. In Dixon’s case, he was sentenced to jail and no one was even harmed physically. Granted Dixon had no reason to be in possession of a gun, justice seems too un-reasonable. Considering our justice system lets people get away with murder, then it contradicts it self and punishes someone who committed a less severe

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