Juveniles in Adult Prisons

1610 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ethical dilemmas of juvenile sentencing

Juveniles in Adult Prisons 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... ... middle of paper ... ...sier to flip the switch, pull the lever, or inject the needle. Putting young offenders in adult prisons leads to more crime, higher prison costs, and increased violence, not to mention placing them in danger from the adult prison population. Bibliography: References Glick, B. (1998) No Time to Play: Youthful Offenders in Adult Correctional Systems. American Correctional Association Wilkerson, I (1996) “Death Sentence at Sixteen Rekindles Debate on Justice for Juveniles.” New York Times, November Butts, J.A. and Snyder, H. (1997) “The Youngest Delinquents: Offenders Under the Age of 15,” Juvenile Justice Bulletin (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice) Lefevre, P.S., “Professor Grapples with Execution of Juveniles.” National Catholic Reporter Snyder, A. “Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders” (1997) National Center for Juvenile Justice

Show More
Related

  • When Kids Get Life Documentary Analysis

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    In recent times, states increasingly pushed for juveniles to be processed as adults in the criminal justice system, which subjected them to overly harsh punishments. Prior to this ruling by the Supreme Court, although the numbers vary, there are approximately 2,500 individuals who were currently serving a sentence, in which they received as a juvenile, of life without the possibility of parole, in twenty nine states that imposed this penalty. The story of Erik Jensen and Nathan Ybanez was just the first of many in which have remained with me through out the

    Read More

  • Kids Are Kids-Until They Commit Crimes By Marjie Lundstrom

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is expected that at a young age, children are taught the difference between what is right and what is wrong in all types of situations. The majority of Supreme Court Justices abolished mandatory life in prison for juveniles that commit heinous crimes, argued this with the consideration of age immaturity, impetuosity, and also negative family and home environments. These violent crimes can be defined as murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault and the like depending on state law. With these monstrous acts in mind the supreme court justices argument could be proven otherwise through capability and accountability, the underdevelopment of the teenage brain and the severity of the crime. Juveniles commit heinous crimes just like adults

    Read More

  • Life Without Parole for Juveniles

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    Supreme Court ruling Graham v. Florida (2010) banned the use of life without parole for juveniles who committed non-homicide crimes, and Roper v. Simmons (2005) abolished the use of the death penalty for juvenile offenders. They both argued that these sentences violated the 8th Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. While these landmark cases made great strides for the rights of minors passing through the criminal justice system, they are just the first steps in creating a juvenile justice system that takes into consideration the vast differences between adolescents and adults. Using sociological (Butler, 2010) and legal (Harvard Law Review, 2010) documents, this essay will explicate why the next such step to be taken is entirely eliminating the use of the life without parole sentence for juveniles, regardless of the nature of the crime being charged.

    Read More

  • Incarceration in An Adult Prison Increases Juvenile Crime

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Sentencing of Juveniles

    2565 Words  | 6 Pages

    Today, we live in a society faced with many problems, including crime and the fear that it creates. In the modern era, juveniles have become a part of society to be feared, not rehabilitated. The basis of the early juvenile justice system was to rehabilitate and create safe havens for wayward youth. This is not the current philosophy, although the U.S. is one of the few remaining countries to execute juveniles. Presently, our nation is under a presidential administration that strongly advocates the death penalty, including the execution of juveniles. The media and supporters of capital punishment warn of the "superpredator," the juvenile with no fear, remorse, or conscience. Opponents of this view encourage the idea that another death is only revenge, not deterrence. We will examine the rights allotted to juvenile offenders, and the punishments inflicted upon them for violations of the law.

    Read More

  • Juvenile Courts

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    Serious crimes such as murder, burglary and rape have raised questions as to whether the young offenders should face severe punitive treatment or the normal punitive measures in juvenile courts. Many would prefer the juveniles given harsh punishment in order to discourage other young people from engaging in similar activities and to serve as a lesson to these particular offenders. However, results from previous studies indicate such punitive measures were neither successful nor morally acceptable. Instead, the solutions achieved have unfairly treated the youths and compromised the society status (Kristin, page 1).

    Read More

  • History of the Juvenile Justice System

    2654 Words  | 6 Pages

    This paper will discuss the history of the juvenile justice system and how it has come to be what it is today. When a juvenile offender commits a crime and is sentenced to jail or reform school, the offender goes to a separate jail or reforming place than an adult. It hasn’t always been this way. Until the early 1800’s juveniles were tried just like everyone else. Today, that is not the case. This paper will explain the reforms that have taken place within the criminal justice system that developed the juvenile justice system.

    Read More

  • Girls in The Juvenile Justice System

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1899, the nation’s first juvenile court for youth under the age of 16 was established in Chicago to provide rehabilitation rather than punishment. By 1925, following the Chicago model, all but two states had juvenile courts whose goals were to turn youth into productive citizens utilizing treatment that included warnings, probation, and training school confinement(Cox et al. 2014, p.2). Treatment lasted until the child was “cured” or turned 21. Although judges spoke with the offending children and decided upon the punishment, the lack of established rules and poor rehabilitation led to unfair treatment. In 1967 “ U.S. Supreme Court case of In re Gault held that juveniles were entitled to the same constitutional due process rights as adults, beginning a national reform in juvenile justice and the system was repaired to afford children many of the same rights that adults have in court” (Cox et al. 2014, p.4). Also, state legislatures passed laws to crack down on juvenile crime, as recently, states have attempted strike a balance in their approach to juvenile justice systems as research suggests that locking youth away in large, secure juvenile facilities is ineffective treatment towards different genders in which it doesn’t provide appropriate rehabilitation.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of The Juvenile Justice System

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    When our thoughts turn to the criminal justice system it is only a natural instinct to assume everyone associated with policing, courts, and corrections will have to deal with juveniles sometime in their career. Young people in today’s society can be so easily influenced by social situations, peer pressure, and family members. The courts in the United States are faced with difficult decisions on a daily basis. Sentencing juveniles to adult facilities for their crimes is becoming a common trend in the justice system today; however it is not a deterrent whatsoever. “The current policies of juvenile bind over to adult criminal court and severe sentencing have been unsuccessful

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Being Tried As Adults

    1547 Words  | 4 Pages

    The controversy of juveniles being tried as adults has plagued the U.S. for years now. If kids do not have the same rights as adults do and aren’t allowed to vote, drink alcohol, smoke, or drive until a certain age, is it acceptable for them to receive the same punishments as adults? It is questions like these that have caused endless debates to erupt in courtrooms. Locking minors in prisons may get them off the streets and reduce overall criminal activity, but there are issues of morality affecting people’s judgments. When people consider teens’ underdeveloped brains and emotionality, the pros and cons of being sentenced as adults, and the process of being tried, perspectives tend to change toward juvenile defendants. This practice of trying minors as adults is one Americans need to face and resolve in

    Read More

  • Juvenile Criminals Should Not Be Tried as Adults

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    People support sending juveniles to adult prisons for many reasons. One reason is that it is the job of the courts to help protect society. Once a troubled juvenile is sent to an adult prison, they are out of the way of society. Hopefully when they re-enter, the punishments they received will be imprinted in their brain and stop them from performing any wrong again. Another reason people think that disturbed youth cannot be saved is that punishment will not save them from themselves and they just need to be locked up forever. It is thought to be true that juveniles who are sent to jail will not commit the same crime again or even any crimes at all. All the reasons and opinions that say that juveniles should be sent to adult prisons for their heinous crimes seem logical. Despite this, they are not. There are more rational reasons why adolescents should be sent to their own private penitentiary.

    Read More

  • Juvenile Death Penalty Pros And Cons

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    “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.)

    Read More

  • Juveniles and the Justice System

    1597 Words  | 4 Pages

    The United States sentences more juveniles to death than any other nation in the world (Justice, 2009) and our juveniles are being sentenced as young as ten years of age. These are juveniles being tried as adults, and something has to change and change fast. The younger generation is supposed to be our future leaders. How will our juveniles or the citizens of this country prevail if this continues we won’t be able to because most of our future leaders will be prisoner. (B, 2005)

    Read More

  • Boot Camps and Juvenile Crime

    1134 Words  | 3 Pages

    By the 1990's, as the number of repeat juvenile offenders rose to record levels, it became clear that prison sentences were not working. In 1994, nearly 10,000 juveniles were charged with criminal offenses, an all-time high. More than 2,300 of them were charged with murder, compared with fewer than 1,000 in 1980, according to th...

    Read More

  • Juvenile Leniency Essay

    1189 Words  | 3 Pages

    When discussing juvenile offenders, there seems to be a distinct divide between how they should be treated. Some believe such young citizens should be treated with leniency in court while others completely disagree. This raises the question, “Should minors be treated with more leniency than their adult counterparts due to their youth?” Despite that the judicial system has flaws, treating juvenile offenders as adults in a court of law proves to be disadvantageous.

    Read More

More about Juveniles in Adult Prisons

Open Document