In today’s society there are a variety of opinions on how a juvenile should be tried or convicted as an adult. When deciding whether a juvenile should be convicted as an adult the justice system takes many things into consideration: What crime was committed? How old were they when they committed the crime? What punishment needs to be obtained by the criminal? And how brutal the crime was? The justice system should not be allowed to charge a juvenile as an adult due to them not being the same, but at what extent should we stop the justice system from charging juveniles as adults? All of the recent studies that have been done they show that their brains are not fully developed, and that a vast majority of juveniles have some sort of mental disorder or disability. As the justice system, they need to consider all of the facts before convicting a juvenile like an adult when they don’t think or act the same way. …show more content…
As stated in “Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, and Decision Making” by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, “Based on the stage of their brain development, adolescents are more likely to: act on impulse, misread or misinterpret social cues and emotions, get into accidents of all kinds, get involved in fights, engage in dangerous or risky behavior” (1). Juveniles do not have the same way of thinking as the people that are surrounding them, this is due to their brains not being fully developed. Brains are not considered to be fully developed until the age of 23 or 25, until then they are not going to think their actions through they are just going to ‘go with the
Within the last five years, violent offenses by children have increased 68 percent, crimes such as: murder, rape, assault, and robbery. Honestly, with these figures, it is not surprising at all that the Juveniles Courts focus less on the children in danger, and focus more on dangerous children. This in fact is most likely the underlying reasoning behind juveniles being tried as adults by imposing harsher and stiffer sentences. However, these policies fail to recognize the developmental differences between young people and
The article titled “ Juvenile Justice from Both Sides of the Bench”, published by PBS, and written by Janet Tobias and Michael Martin informs readers on numerous judges’ opinions on the juveniles being tried as adults. Judge Thomas Edwards believed that juveniles should not be tried as adults because they are still not mature enough to see the consequences of their actions and have a chance to minimize this behavior through rehabilitation programs. Judge LaDoris Cordell argues that although we shouldn’t give up on juveniles and instead help them be a part of society, however, she believes that some sophisticated teens that create horrible crimes should be tried as adults. Bridgett Jones claims that teens think differently than adults and still
The sentencing of underage criminals has remained a logistical and moral issue in the world for a very long time. The issue is brought to our perspective in the documentary Making a Murderer and the audio podcast Serial. When trying to overcome this issue, we ask ourselves, “When should juveniles receive life sentences?” or “Should young inmates be housed with adults?” or “Was the Supreme Court right to make it illegal to sentence a minor to death?”. There are multiple answers to these questions, and it’s necessary to either take a moral or logical approach to the problem.
American Psychological Association experts state that on average when compared to adults, 16 and 17 year-old juveniles are more: emotionally volatile, aggressive, impulsive, reactive to stress, vulnerable to peer pressure, likely to take menacing risks, prone to dramatize short-term advantages, under mind the long term consequences of their actions, and are likely to omit alternative courses of action. This may have something to with the fact that the adolescent brain is under developed. For example, according to experts at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Law and Brain Behavior “Modern neuroscience is demonstrating that the teen behavior we all observe has a brain signature that can be scanned...” and “ Their frontal lobes, the regions that synthesize and organize information, that consider the consequences of actions, and serve to inhibit impulsive behavior are not fully developed, nor will they be until the early to mid 20s.” (Edersheim, Beresin, Schlozman 2013) The front of the brain contains important nerve circuitry that functions by ...
Many people assume that teenagers should not be sentenced as adults, because their brain is not fully developed. On the other hand, people believe if teenagers commit crimes then they need to have consequences for their actions. According to the Campaign for Youth Justices, about 250,000 teenagers are tried, sentenced, or incarcerated as adults every year in the United States (Campaign for Youth Justices 3). Therefore, charging teenagers as adults is fair, because they are human beings just like adults.
...to the article Startling Finds on Teenage Brains by Paul Thompson from Sacramento Bee, published on May 25, 2001 “...brain cells and connections are only being lost in areas controlling impulses, risk-taking, and self-control.”, during this loss of brain tissue, the juvenile cannot their impulses which can cause erratic behavior. Juveniles may not even mean to act this way they just do. It may even be something that they are necessarily aware of. Or they may be aware of it but do not notice the need to change. Juveniles just need a something to keep them out of trouble and not everyone has one.
There has always been controversies as to whether juvenile criminals should be tried as adults or not. Over the years more and more teenagers have been involved in committing crimes. In some cases the juries have been too rough on the teens. Trying teens as adults can have a both positive and negative views. For example, teens that are detained can provide information about other crimes, can have an impact in social conditions, and serve as experience; however, it can be negative because teens are still not mature enough for that experience, they are exposed to adult criminals; and they will lose out on getting an education.
Although this may seem like a huge indication on why teens do act upon impulse, it can not be blamed on the underdeveloped brain argument which is greatly proved in the article “On Punished and Teen Killers” by Jennifer Jenkins. Jenkins argues, “If brain development were the reason, then teens would kill at roughly the same rates all over the world”. With this brain loss it would be expected that all existing teens would receive the same rush and desire to murder, rape, commit aggravated assault or any other crime, but this is not true. The incident which Nathaniel Brazill committed is another example, he “shot to death an English teacher who would not let him say goodbye to two girls… he said he made a ‘stupid mistake’ but prosecutors argued that by bringing a gun to school he planned the crime”. This act cannot be labeled simply a “stupid mistake” because it was proven to be premeditated and not only did he bring the gun to school, but the fact that he was angry shows he did it on purpose and had the clear intention to kill. While research on brain tissue loss can help us to understand teens better, it cannot be used to excuse their violent or homicidal
Thousands of kid criminals in the United States have been tried as adults and sent to prison (Equal Justice Initiative). The debate whether these kids should be tried as adults is a huge controversy. The decision to try them or to not try them as an adult can change their whole life. “Fourteen states have no minimum age for trying children as adults” (Equal Justice Initiative). Some people feel that children are too immature to fully understand the severity of their actions. People who are for kids to be tried as adults feel that if they are old enough to commit the crime, then they are old enough to understand what they are doing. There are people who feel that children should only be tried as adults depending on the crime.
Juveniles are not mature enough or developed psychologically, and, therefore, do not consider the consequences of their actions. In the article, “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” by Thompson,
Juveniles deserve to be tried the same as adults when they commit certain crimes. The justice systems of America are becoming completely unjust and easy to break through. Juvenile courts haven’t always been known to the everyday person.
Is it fair to give juveniles life sentences? On June 25 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who committed murder could not be sentenced to life in prison because it violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority, stated that “Mandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological age and its hallmark features- among them, immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to appreciate the risks and consequences. It prevents taking into account the family and home environment that surrounds him and from which he cannot usually extricate himself no matter how brutal or dysfunctional.” Juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison or adult jail until legal age. Due to the facts that many are still young and aren’t over eighteen.
Much controversy exists on the question of whether a juvenile criminal should be punished to the same extent as an adult. Those who commit capitol crimes, including adolescents, should be penalized according to the law. Age should not be a factor in the case of serious crimes. Many people claim that the child did not know any better, or that he was brought up with the conception that this behavior is acceptable. Although there is some truth to these allegations, the reality of this social issue is far more complex. Therefore we ask the question, "Should childhood offenders of capitols crimes be treated as adults?"
Today?s court system is left with many difficult decisions. One of the most controversial being whether to try juveniles as adults or not. With the number of children in adult prisons and jails rising rapidly, questions are being asked as to why children have been committing such heinous crimes and how will they be stopped. The fact of the matter is that it is not always the children's fault for their poor choices and actions; they are merely a victim of their environment or their parents. Another question asked is how young is too young. Children who are too young to see an R rated film unaccompanied are being sent to adult prisons. The only boundaries that seem to matter when it comes to being an adult are laws that restrain kids from things such as alcohol, pornography, and other materials seen as unethical. Children that are sent to adult prison are going to be subjected to even more unprincipled ideas and scenes. When children can be sent to jail for something as minor as a smash and grab burglary, the judicial system has errors. The laws that send juveniles to adult prisons are inhumane, immoral, and unjust. Kids are often incompetent, which leads to unfair trials. Adult prisons are also very dangerous for minors, and in many cases this leads to more juvenile crimes.
Juvenile offenders should not be tried as adults because there are differences between a teenager and adult. A teenager is not mature as an adult. Some teenagers are capable to change their behavior and are capable to recognize their own mistakes. It is a huge mistake for juveniles offenders to be tried as adults and send them to adult court and prison . There are many factors why they should not be tried as adult.