Pros of Juveniles being tired as adults
Bringing justice to extreme crimes
Even though juveniles are kids, they should still be able to distinguish right from wrong. The victims and their families should still deserve justice.
The courts focus on age instead of crime
Juvenile courts have a strong attendance to focus on the age of the offender rather than the degree of the crime they have committed.
Mature mentality begins at a much earlier age
The majority of states in the US consider adults to be under the age of 18. This is considered too high for an age because teens have the ability to control their thoughts and actions. If juveniles do not have the moral compass by then, they are more likely to commit more crimes.
Juvenile crime is on the rise
Over the past years, there has been a record number of crimes committed by juveniles.
…show more content…
The judge makes all of the decisions and often has helped form a team of mediators for the juvenile and their family. By allowing the juvenile to be tried as adults, it gives them the ability to have a trial by jury.
Cons of Juveniles Being Tried as Adults
Young offenders are being put at risk
One of the biggest problems, when a juvenile commits a crime, is the possibility of going to adult court. It can be very dangerous, especially if they are young. Many juveniles lack the maturity when faced with the problems that come up in an adult prison.
Fewer varieties of punishment
When minors are getting their sentence in adult court they got to prison and have the possibility of given the death sentence. However, when faced with juvenile court minors are given a curfew, house arrest or counseling.
Juveniles are given the message of lost hope
When juveniles are given a longer sentence and in prison, it gives them the impression that there is no hope for their future. This is damaging for the juvenile and for their
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... ...
With the current crime rates on the rise, the justice system is trying to reduce adult criminals by strictly prosecuting juvenile offenders as adults. Many people believe that in doing so will scare the criminals back on the straight path and help to lower the crime rate. Trying a juvenile as an adult will have no effect on reducing crimes, corrective behaviors, or a juvenile’s comprehension ability.
Being charged with adult sentences is a very harsh punishment considering their age. Andrew Medina was fifteen when he got sentenced to life without parole because of a murder that he possibly did not commit. Officers also alleged that he was part of a gang and sent him to spend the rest of his life in a very strict prison. Trevor Jones also got sentenced to life without parole at the age of seventeen because of reckless manslaughter. Even though it was an accident, the victim’s death occurred while Trevor intended armed robbery and was accused of felony murder and will spend the rest of his life in prison. Jacob Ind was sentenced to life without parole. At the age of fifteen, he killed his mother and stepfather in order to put an end to the all kinds of abuse they were putting him through. The jury did not recognize the fact that it was primarily self-defense and accused him of first degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence. These are the cases of only three kids who got life without parole but there are so many more. These kids miss out on so many things in life because they will spend most of it locked in a cell. One accident or mistake can ruin their lives forever. That is why I think juveniles should be tried in juvenile
In the last 42 years little to no changes have been made to correct the standards that govern punitive measures towards juvenile delinquency. Today juvenile law is governed by state and many states have enacted a juvenile code. However, in numerous cases, juveniles are transferred to adult court when juvenile courts waive or relinquish jurisdiction. Adolescents should not be tried in the adult court system or sentenced to adult penitentiary's on account of: teen brains are not mature which causes a lack of understanding towards the system, incarceration in an adult facility increases juvenile crime, and children that are sentenced to adult prison are vulnerable to abuse and rape.
There are times where a juvenile may be eligible for transfer to adult criminal court. There are certain criteria that must be met for this to happen, and there is a strong belief that juveniles who commit serious offenses would be more appropriately dealt with by criminal (or adult) courts (Elrod & Ryder, 2011). Juveniles are capable of committing the same serious offenses that adults do. Therefore, with the requirements of a transfer being met, there are times that juveniles should be placed in the adult criminal court system and tried through here, rather than the juvenile court system. The juvenile court system may not have the same consequences or sentencing guidelines as the adult criminal court; therefore, the proper punishment may not be served if a juvenile is not transferred to the adult criminal court system.
According to the authors of And Justice for Some, between the years 1985 and 1997, the number of juveniles placed in state prison more than doubled (Poe-Yamagata & Jones, 2000). While they are separated from the adult population if they were tried in the juvenile courts, when a juvenile is waived to the adult court, they are incarcerated with adult inmates in jails and prisons. In the past years, the courts are moving away from case-specific decisions on waiving juveniles to the criminal courts and are now considering the waiver on offense seriousness. This means that even if a person commits a crime at a very young age, if the offense is seriousness, they face the criminal courts. States try about 200,000 juveniles in adult courts every year because their juvenile courts end at fifteen or sixteen years of age, instead of seventeen; in addition, other states try about 55,000 more juveniles even though they were within the ages for their juvenile jurisdiction (Feld, 2008).
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.
sentenced to age-appropriate punishments that allow them to learn from their mistakes and rehabilitate, rather than being subjected to the ultimate punishment of death. The evidence presented by Horn (2009) and Stevenson (2014) clearly shows that juveniles are not fully developed and lack the necessary experience and judgment to be held to the same standards as adults. Therefore, it is imperative that the justice system recognizes the unique circumstances of juvenile offenders and provides them with appropriate rehabilitation and support rather than resorting to cruel and unethical punishments such as the death penalty. 2008). The evidence clearly shows that children in adult prisons are at a high risk of being sexually assaulted and mistreated.
Juvenile Justice Juvenile justice is the decision whether or not to charge a juvenile as an adult. When a juvenile is charged as an adult, they are sentenced to long prison terms and sometimes life. In 2012 two groups of judges came together, one group believes that Juveniles should be allowed to be sentenced to life in prison and the other group believes that Juveniles should not be allowed to be sentenced to life in prison. I agree with the group of judges that believe that juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison. Age is a factor in why juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison.
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.
A deep look into juveniles in adult prisons. Touch bases on several smaller issues that contribute to juveniles being in and effects of adult prisons. The United States Bureau of Prisons handles two hundred and thirty-nine juveniles and their average age is seventeen. Execution of juveniles, The United States is one of only six countries to execute juveniles. There are sixty-eight juveniles sitting on death row for crimes committed as juveniles. Forty-three of those inmates are minorities. People, who are too young to vote, drink alcohol, or drive are held to the same standard of responsibility as adults. In prisons, they argue that the juveniles become targets of older, more hardened criminals. Brian Stevenson, Director of the Alabama Capital Resource Center said, “We have totally given up in the idea of reform of rehabilitation for the very young. We are basically saying we will throw those kids away. Leading To Prison Juvenile Justice Bulletin Report shows that two-thirds of juveniles apprehended for violent offenses were released or put on probation. Only slightly more than one-third of youths charged with homicide was transferred to adult criminal court. Little more than one out of every one hundred New York youths arrested for muggings, beatings, rape and murder ended up in a correctional institution. Another report showed a delinquent boy has to be arrested on average thirteen times before the court will act more restrictive than probation. Laws began changing as early as 1978 in New York to try juveniles over 12 who commit violent crimes as adults did. However, even since the laws changed only twenty percent of serious offenders served any time. The decision of whether to waive a juven...
The United States has been affected by a number of crimes committed by juveniles. The juvenile crime rate has been increasing in recent years. Every day more juveniles commit crimes for various reasons. They act as adults when they are not officially adults. There is a discussion about how juveniles should be punished if they commit heinous 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.
. . should be to look only at the fact that they engaged in the same behavior, so treat them both the same as adults,” says Judge Ladoris Cordell (PBS). Several citizens feel that children should be tried as adults. In a court case that occurred in 1997, an 11-year-old shot and killed an 18-year-old. Prosecutor Sean Colston felt that children should know right from wrong and should be punished for their actions; children should go to jail and learn from their mistakes. He also thought that maybe jail will teach them to never break the law again (Should Children be Tried as Adults?). Teens are being tried everyday and receiving shortened sentences and being released, causing their victim’s families and also the victim to suffer forever. The courts and juvenile rights both believe that second chances should be given to youths who commit crimes; although, criminals are walking the streets everywhere whether old or young (Teen
Each year, hundreds of thousands of youth enter into the justice system. Incarceration is not designed to properly meet the needs of youth nor strengthen their development. Research indicates that relying on punishment and incarceration, rather than rehabilitation, is harmful to youth and may