Juvenile Death Penalty Pros And Cons

“The solitary goal of these reports is to collect in one place the best available data and information on the death penalty for juvenile offenders. It is left to other document and to other organizations to argue about the pros and cons of the practice, with the hope that these data will inform those arguments and deliberations. Therefore, while a sketch of both pro and con rationales is provided, this report takes no position on legality, wisdom or morality od the death penalty for juveniles offenders”. ( Streib, Victor L.) In the year 1899, The U.S first Juvenile court opened up. Located in Chicago, the court was made to provide "Care, custody and discipline" to the troubled youth of the community. The courts philosophy declared that children

However, Blackstone did not give a distinct rule on the punishment of defendants age 7 to 14. Blackstone wrote that if a jury agreed the child was within a certain age group to be charged with a felony, and it was determined that the child's crime was intentional and spiteful. The child could receive the harshest punishment allowed for that distinct felony. Putting this into practice children in America as young as 7 could possible be sentenced to death for committing murder. Children at the age of 17 or under were mostly have their trials take place in the juvenile court system, not adult court if they are to be charged with a crime. In the juvenile court system they are more likely to receive a less harsh sentence instead if they had be charged in adult court. They would begin to spend time in a specifically created detention system, where their caretakers would provide guidance, education, and shelter. In argument, children or younger aged teens who have been charged with a more extreme crime(murder or rape) for example could possibly be charged in adult court even though this practice is seldom exercised. A few Americans started to express shock that juvenile offenders where receiving very little punishment for the

In addition almost 30 states established mandatory minimum sentences of life without parole in certain crimes committed by juveniles. In most cases, the crime that received life without parole sentences was homicide. However in some states, being convicted of a crime called a "felony murder" could possible result in a mandatory conviction of life without parole. The conviction of "felony murder" can be passed down if the defendant was a active participant in the crime when the murder occurred. The defendant does not have to be the one who committed the murder to be convicted of a felony murder and can consequently spend life in prison without the possiblity of parole. The juvenile justice system does its best effort towards treating and rehabilitaing children who have become involved with crime. The attempts can be categorized as community treatment, residential treatment, nonresidential community treatment, and institutionalization. In most cases community treatment involves placing the child on probation. If its believed that child is not harmful to others, he or she can be placed under the supervision of a officer of the juvenile court system and must abide by the specific rules that are made between the officer and the child. IN some case of community treatment it can take a form of restitution, meaning that the