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Victims of crime and its effect paper
Victims of crime and its effect paper
Victims of crime and its effect paper
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Over the past few years, the rates for juvenile killers have gone up tremendously but the question is, should being tried as adults with no eligibility for parole be their punishment? There are thousands of children in the world who are considered juvenile killers for the horrible actions that they committed while under age. Many of these children are placed in prison with life without parole, so they will spend the rest of their life and die there in prison (Totenberg). Do you believe it is unfair to charge them as adults when they are under age? Teenagers or children under the age of 18 should be tried as adults when they commit crimes such as murder because they know the actions they are performing and just like everyone else they should …show more content…
have to face the consequences for those actions.
To begin with, some people may argue that juveniles are young and their minds aren't fully developed so their actions are not all their fault. To elaborate, on his website Totenberg states, "The court said that because of their youth, their brains are literally less developed, they are more impulsive, more subject to peer pressure and less able to see the consequences of their acts." However the fact is, nobody forces the children to perform these actions they do it all on their own. They thought they were so mature and better than everyone else when they killed someone so they should be able to handle the consequences. Imagine one of these children killing one of your loved ones, wouldn't you want them to be faced with the proper consequences? In addition, "All crimes committed by juveniles should be treated in the same regard and must if not to punish heinous acts, then to provide justice to the families" (UNLV Press). What this means is, that the child who committed the crime should face the consequences in order to allow the …show more content…
families some justice. "Youths who commit crimes are walking the streets, living as our neighbors, and in many instances committing additional crimes" (Teen Ink). Everyone else in the world should not have to live in fear for their life because of one person who causes danger to others, they should be put away for their wrong doing. Their young mind set is not an excuse for their inappropriate behavior. They are aware of what they are getting themselves into; therefore, they should have to pay the price, the rules should not be changed just because they are younger. (Denver Post). The court should not focus on the age of the offender, but the crime that they committed. Overall, adolescents who commit this type of crime should have to take the full punishment that any other adult would have to face. In addition, many people may also argue that juveniles may actually change their personality and meanings and turn their life around for the better.
The truth is, even if given the chance to change many of these children will take advantage of this opportunity, and continue to be the same person that they were before. There are many cases in which the court allows them to only face probation, yet they still take advantage and commit more heinous crimes. By being more lenient with the under age children who commit these crimes, they are only getting it in their head that it is acceptable, when in reality it is not (UNLV Press). With that being said, the court should not let the juveniles mentally think that they can get away with murdering someone. As the years go on and the number of juvenile offenders increases, a lot of them know how the court works with them which is why they continue to perform those acts because they already know that the court will let them get away with it. The court does not give adults the option to see if they have changed and are able to go back in the real world, so they should not offer that to children. The court system should be equal across the board. Most of the time, children perform this type of behavior when in front of their peers. They tend to give into peer pressure and do irrelevant actions just to look good in front of each other (Steinberg). If they are old enough to pick up a gun or knife to kill somebody then their mind is
developed enough to know that it is wrong and will cause you to get into serious trouble. There has to be a purpose for them committing this type of crime, you don't just kill someone for amusement. If other types of crimes are committed such as robbery or any other minor issue, that is the only time that they should be considering letting them off with a warning and not punishing them as an adult. However, when it is something so serious as murdering another human being, they must be punished. With the understanding that we are all human and make mistakes, it is not an innocent mistake when it involves the life of another human. Equally important, although people may say that friends and others may encourage their peers to make bad choices, at the end of the day only you control your actions and everything that you do. Nobody is going to change the rules and make everything easier for a teenager who decided to make one wrong decision in his or her life. During our childhood we tend to want to feel accepted by our peers and that involves fitting in and doing whatever it takes to make you look good. With that being said, teenagers or other children may perform these inappropriate behaviors if told to do so by a friend or anybody that they feel might care. Their peers don’t physically get the hands of the juvenile and force them to kill somebody, it is all their choice. Many people fall into peer pressure which can be good at times but when it involves you getting into serious trouble, that is not the way to go. Sometimes this pressure from peers can lead to the inappropriate use of drugs and alcohol, that can lead to minors performing unthoughtful acts. In spite of that, teens shouldn't be under the influence of drugs nor alcohol, so that is not an excuse for "accidental" inappropriate behavior (Teen Ink). Always do what you feel is right because at the end of the day, nobody else is going to be responsible for your actions except yourself. In conclusion, juveniles under the age 18 should be tried as adults, they performed those actions so they should be given the same consequences as all the others. The children are old enough to commit those crimes so they knew what they were getting themselves into when they performed those actions. Undeveloped minds and peer pressure are no excuse to commit such a heinous crime; therefore, all juveniles killers should be tried as adults with no eligibility for parole. Always think about the consequences before doing something that might cause you to get into serious trouble.
Many people say that the systems first priority should be to protect the public from the juvenile criminals that are a danger to others. Once the juveniles enter the system there is however, arguments on what should be done with them. Especially for those deemed too dangerous to be released back to their parents. Some want them locked away for as long as possible without rehabilitation, thinking that it will halt their criminal actions. One way to do this they argue would be to send them into an adult court. This has been a large way to reform the juvenile system, by lowering the age limits. I believe in certain cases this is the best method for unforgiving juveniles convicted of murder, as in the case of Ronald Duncan, who got away with a much lesser sentence due to his age. However another juvenile, Geri Vance, was old enough to be sent into the adult court, which caused him t...
“You are hereby sentenced to life without the possibility of parole”. These are the words that a juvenile in America is likely to hear. Collectively, as a nation, the United States has incarcerated more juveniles with life sentences than any other nation. With this fact the arguments arise that juveniles should not be punished the same was as an adult would be but, is that really how the justice system should work? To allow a juvenile who recently robbed a store only get a slap on the wrist? Not comprehending that there are consequences for their actions and how what they have done affects the victims.
Heinous crimes are considered brutal and common among adults who commit these crimes, but among children with a young age, it is something that is now being counted for an adult trial and punishable with life sentencing. Although some people agree with this decision being made by judges, It is my foremost belief that juveniles don’t deserve to be given life sentencing without being given a chance at rehabilitation. If this goes on there’s no point in even having a juvenile system if children are not being rehabilitated and just being sent off to prison for the rest of their lives and having no chance getting an education or future. Gail Garinger’s article “ juveniles Don’t deserve Life sentence”, written March 14, 2012 and published by New york Times, mentions that “ Nationwide, 79 adolescents have been sentenced to die in prison-a sentence not imposed on children anywhere else in the world. These children were told that they could never change and that no one cared what became of them. They were denied access to education and rehabilitation programs and left without help or hope”. I myself know what it’s like to be in a situation like that, and i also know that people are capable of changing even children when they are young and still growing.
This quote by Edward Humes sums it up the best, “The fundamental question Juvenile Court was designed to ask - What's the best way to deal with this individual kid? - is often lost in the process, replaced by a point system that opens the door, or locks it, depending on the qualities of the crime, not the child.” (No Matter How Loud I shout, 1996, p. 325). The courts need to focus on what is best for the child and finding punishment that fits the child not the crime.
According to criminal.findlaw.com the definition of the juvenile justice system is the area of criminal law applicable to people not old enough to be held responsible for criminal acts. Juveniles are people 17 and under. Juveniles should be convicted as adults for violent crimes like assault or murder etcetera because if they can commit an adult crime they should get an adult punishment. Also if juveniles don’t get punished for their crimes then they’ll keep doing it because they got off unpunished the first time.
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.
Do you think juveniles should be held responsible for their actions? For many years, children have been sentenced to death without trial. Young people are not capable of making rational decisions. Hence, children are restricted from doing many things. For instance, children under the age eighteen are not allowed by law to vote, and work for a certain number of hours. However, when it comes to sentencing children as adults to the death penalty, it is not illegal. If children are viewed differently from adults by law, then why is that not the case when being trialed? Moreover, children are not yet matured to receive such punishments. Likewise, juveniles should not be sentenced to death, because they are still
Juveniles are more than just kids. They are capable of doing anything an adult is capable of doing. One has probably heard the saying, “If you want to be treated like an adult, then act like an adult.” If they’re going to do crimes that “only” adults are capable of doing, then they should treated like an adult and be tried and sentenced like one. Imagine being close to a murder victim, wouldn’t you want them to feel hell? “How would you feel if you never got to see your child alive again while their killer served only a short sentence before being released from jail?” (hchs1259). This quote hits hard. One can only imagine being in the position of a parent whose child was murdered.
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.
In juvenile court, the judge must decide if the teen gets tried as an adult or minor. If the juvenile gets sent to a juvenile detention center for murder they will live their lives there until they are twenty one, but if tried as an adult they will serve so many years in prison. There is a grey area of law for certain teens that commit serious crimes. In this case of the grey law, each state gets to decide upon the particular state how they person is tried. For most cases pertaining to the juvenile courts are case by case bases. Many believe that it isn’t fair for the teens to be locked up with adults. The U.S. House of Representatives made the Juvenile Justice Act encouraging states to find alternatives to having the teens go through such a process with people much older than themselves (Locked Up…).
"Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time." -- David Grusin and Morgan Ames
once the minor has committed a violent crime, they are no longer a kid. The minor had the ability to know right from wrong, but he still chose to commit the heinous crime anyway. Choosing to commit this violent crime means that the minor chose to act as an adult and must be held accountable. Once the minor has made the decision to act as an adult, they must be treated as an adult. If we do not teach minors that what they did has consequences they will never learn. Arguments can be made that minors should not be treated as adults and while these arguments do have merit, they are not my beliefs. In my opinion, minors who commit violent crimes need to be tried as adults. Justice does not discriminate when it comes to age. Right is right, and wrong is wrong and the wrong should be punished equally.
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.
That’s why we don’t permit 15-year-olds to drink, drive, vote or join the military” (qtd. in Billitteri). There is adolescent-development research according to Hambrick, J. and Ellem, J that has shown “children do not possess the same capacity as adults to think thru the consequences of their behaviors, control their responses or avoid peer pressure” (qtd. in Lyons). There are some very good points made in the argument against sentencing youth as adults but I still have a hard time agreeing with peer pressure or impulse control as a reason to be held in a juvenile center for less than a few years for murder. Ryan, L. uses the example of a report released by the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention on “Juvenile Transfer Laws : An Effective Deterrent to Delinquency?” This report found that prosecuting youths as adults has little or no effect on juvenile crime.” She uses this information and backs it up with the report showing “youths prosecuted as adults are more likely to re-offend than youths handled in the juvenile justice system” (qtd. in Katel). This is definitely a new perspective, but I still stand with my first take on the subject. “We know young people can commit serious crimes, and the consequences are no less tragic” (qtd in
Should juveniles be trial as an adult after committing a heinous crime and sentenced to life? As a teenager, this question if far complicated to answer due that I am a teenager yet in my opinion, I believe that the juvenile should not be sentenced to life. I believe that there 's other way to punish them for their crimes. The last execution was in 2006 in California. On June 2012, the supreme court of justice ruled that juveniles cannot be sentenced to life in prison. On July 2014, in California the death penalty was removed. The 8th amendment banned the use of cruel or punishments. The reason why this rule have been imposed or banned was because many believed that they deserve a second chance. There are many reasons why juveniles commit crimes such as murder.