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Juvenile delinquency and criminal justice system
Effects of juvenile crimes
Juvenile delinquency and criminal justice system
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Watch the attached video and reflect on it in your discussions. What do you think of what Alonza did? What do you think about his sentence? Would you have given a different 'punishment,' if so, what? and why? And anything else you may want to add.
After watching the full documentary on the crime that Alonza Thomas committed, I believe that he received a much harsher sentence than he deserved. I agree that what he did was wrong and he should have been convicted of a crime, but the extent to which he was punished was far more severe than the crime itself.Personally, I feel that 1) he should have not been tried as an adult and 2) he should have not been sent to a maximum security prison with adult criminals. For example, if a rapists commits a crime, they receive somewhere between three to four months jail time in some cases. In Alonza’s case, he never had past criminal record and never committed a crime but I feel due to him being an underprivileged minority, he was given maximum sentencing.
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My concern is what made the court decide that Alanza Thomas deserved to be tried as an adult with no past criminal record. I believe that the appropriate sentencing for Alanza would have been probation and detention because in this way, the courts can monitor the juvenile as well as make him “pay” for what he has done. I feel like the detention he should have received should have been juvenile where they provide intervention programs for problem children experiencing behavioral problems. At a detention home, the juvenile will at least spend their days receiving counseling, individual therapy, and learning how to with fellow peers and
The Court ruled for the juvenile, stating that his rights to due process were indeed violated according to the Fourteenth Amendment. “The proceedings of the Juvenile Court failed to comply with the Constitution. The Court held that the proceedings for juveniles had to comply with the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment” (Oyez, n.d.). The Court analyzed the juvenile court's method of handling cases, verifying that, while there are good reasons behind handling juveniles in a different way from adults, adolescents seeking to settling delinquency and detainment cases are qualified for certain procedural safeguards under the Due Process Act of the Fourteenth
In my opinion, I actually agree with the court decision because yes although he did committed a crime, to be sentenced for life at young age is pretty harsh. I do agree that he should pay for his consequences but not to that extreme. They should honestly come up with a plan that suits his crime. Plus he has the right of the 8th Amendment, to not condone a cruel punishment if it does not suit the crime in which he committed.
Racial discrimination has been an immense problem in our society for a very long time. The fact that the race of a victim plays a role in his or her sentencing is appalling. Discrimination within our society needs to come to an end. It’s frightening to think that if you are a minority facing a capital punishment case, which you might be found guilty only because of the color of your skin.
Clarence Darrow’s speech Crime and Criminals, “Address to the Prisoners in the Cook County Jail” is a very unique speech with a different look at crime and criminals. Throughout the speech he states many important facts, but what he cannot seem to stress enough is the factor of circumstance. Darrow states that his view of crime and criminals is different than most peoples; he does not view people as good or bad, but rather sees them as people that have been brought up in different circumstances. Those people living life well-off have been introduced into this world on the side of wealth, while there are those who either live in poverty or in prison. It is said by Darrow that he believes jails should not exist and that everyone should be given fair chance at a successful life. Instead of leaving the justice of these individuals in the hands of affluent people, and allowing them to throw the unfortunate in prison, Darrow thinks that we should be giving them a chance to succeed.
It is sad to see youth with so many energy and potential get sent to jail at an early age. The crimes most of the young children commit are usually something that could have been prevented. Adnan Syed, a high school student in Baltimore in 1999 had a different case than the other young children that get sent to jail every day for drug and theft majority of the time. He is sentenced for life in prison because the judge believes that he have murdered his ex-girlfriend Hae min Lee. Adnan Syed is not guilty for the murderer of Hae min lee because there is no proof that he did nor is there a motive for him to kill her.
Throughout the entire film, viewers can witness how Steven Avery is being poorly treated because of his socioeconomic status, and the fact that he is different from everyone in the Manitowoc County. Steven was lied on, picked on, and accused of committing a crime he did not commit, all because he was looked down upon and viewed as being less of a person than everyone else in the community. Watching this episode invokes an emotion that is prevalent today with our justice system. Many minorities are falsely accused and falsely imprisoned due to personal vendettas from private citizens or members of the law enforcement. Others are disfranchised due to their socioeconomic status. Ultimately, there are numerous innocent men and women serving life sentences and are on death row for crimes they did not commit. As an illustration, in the year of 2007, Davontae Sanford, who was just 14 years old at the time, was wrongfully convicted of murdering four people and sentenced 90 years in prison. Sandford was an individual a part of the lower social class, coming from a rough part of Detroit, he was a victim of poverty. He stated how he was such a naïve kid and was coerced by detectives and his defense attorney to confess and plead guilty to murders he did not commit. Sanford told how his attorney commented, “you’re a black kid from the ghetto; these white people from the suburbs are gonna come in here and they’re gonna find you guilty.” He was exonerated June of 2016 after the real offender came forward and denied Sanford’s involvement in the murder. What is exposed as this bigger picture is how the criminal justice system is corrupted, being prejudice and stereotyping individuals based on their socioeconomic status is how the system seems to incarcerate people and sad to say,
When it comes to minors, we try to keep a balance between our logistic and moral views on the issue of their imprisonment. Usually, we end up thinking morally, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Children raised in harsh conditions or without adequate parenting could stay bad forever, or grow up to become a great person. A huge slip up shouldn’t take their life. We could think that the children could stay bad forever and become an even bigger problem later in life, but prison time works well to deter against that. The supreme court was right. It’s completely wrong to sentence a minor to
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.
Fair sentencing of youth state's “Children sentenced to life in prison without parole are often the most vulnerable members of our society” The Gail Garinger article, “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences” discusses about children deserving a second opportunity. According to Garinger, children should receive a second chance and help so they could be mentally stable. According to Justice Elena Kagan she discusses that Juveniles without parole affects the way he develops throughout his life time. I agree with the majority decision that Juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison and that they should be given a second chance because they deserve to fix their mistakes.
Ethan Couch, a 16 year old boy, caused an accident that involved more than 14 people, killing 4 of them and injuring another. After the police arrived, Couch was later taken to court, and was sentenced to 10 years probation. In addition, he was mandated to a rehab center. Once Couch left the rehab center, he worked with his father in his place of business. This didn't last long resulting in he and his mother being caught and arrested in Mexico. The decision by the justice system wasn't very through. Their initial decision made many question the justice system to include myself. As I read the article, I question why a man who killed four people and injured a another would merely receive probation. This is honestly an unfair decision made
We cannot say a judge should punish criminals not based on what they’ve been condemned of, but based on national imprisonment disparities. Yes, the degree of punishment might have been larger than they should have been which should have been the greater focus. DuVernay makes it seem that the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery was purposely constructed with a loophole that was meant to be used to continual enslave black people. It wasn’t loophole; Sentenced offenders can be deprived of liberty; it was just a reaffirmation of common sense. Where we even strong mistruth such as Woodrow Wilson didn’t say “The Birth of a Nation” was “history written with lightning.”, and Walmart hasn’t sold handguns since 1993; long guns are uncommonly used in murders so they weren’t backing ALEC because the wanted more people to buy more guns.
2010, “Racial Disparities in Sentencing: Implications for the Criminal Justice System and the African American Community”, African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies 4(1): 1-31, in this Albonetti’s study is discussed in which it was found that minority status alone accounted for an additional sentence length of “one to seven months.” African American defendants were “likely to receive pretrial release but were more likely to be convicted, and be given harsher sentences after conviction than white defendants charged with the same crimes.” One of the reasons behind this are the sentencing laws, it is seen that these laws are designed in a way that they tend to be harsher towards a certain group of people, generally towards the people of color than others thus leading to inequality with the sentencing
It isn’t a normal “kids being kids” situation to steal a car high on drugs. Jasmine needed help and handling the case informally would have done nothing to help her. Jasmine needed a wakeup call and one might assume sending her through the system would have been a great way to do it. I do agree in not trying Jasmine as an adult as well. What Jasmine did was not serious enough to try her as an adult, as well as it was her first offense for this crime. If she would have killed someone in the process of stealing the car or while driving the car, then I would lean more towards trying her as an adult. Even though Jasmine said Juvenile Hall was easy to get by and she could fake her way through it, she wasn’t quite at the stage where adult jail was necessary. I feel that Jasmine is able to be rehabilitated, sending her to the long-term residential treatment program was the right call with her, especially since that is what made her change into a better
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.
The original concept behind the juvenile court system was an emphasis on rehabilitation rather than punishment. It was supposed to provide a means of protecting the child from the harshness of the adult court, which emphasized obtaining guilt and punishing the individual (Hickey, 2010). The dichotomies of "treatment-punishment" and "chi...