Should Children be Tried as Adults?

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Should Children Be Tried As Adults?

Would it be ok telling a twelve year old kid that has committed a crime, that he or she is sentenced to doing life in prison? Would it be ok to sentence a child to the death penalty, throwing a child's life away by ending it in prison? There are many different perspectives people have on children committing crimes and how they should be dealt with. Some people would say that no, children shouldn't be tried as adults due to the fact that they don’t know any better and their brains aren't fully developed yet. Meanwhile other people feel if you can do the crime then you can do the time. People also say children can't drink like adults, vote like adults, and drive like adults, so would it really be fair to try them as adults if they aren't even equal to adults? Then again others think that kids have plenty of brains and common sense and they are well aware of if they are doing something bad or not and they should know better. Another argue is that charging a child as an adult is violating the juvenile law of dealing with kids under eighteen. And lastly others say a crime is a crime regardless to age. If one was to look up the word justice in the dictionary it would say this justice means to be righteous, and fairness, it's the quality of being fair and reasonable. According to this definition charging kids as adults is the complete opposite because it's neither fair nor reasonable. So the question remains, should juveniles be tried as adults which they aren’t or should they be tried as juveniles which they are.

The battle between charging kids as adults and charging them as juveniles is such a controversial argument. Due to the fact that it’s a 50/50 chance of someone saying yes or no is what l...

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...ommit a crime they know what they are doing they can comprehend the outcomes. Whereas a child whose brain isn't developed is ignorant to a lot in life, and until they reach that adult age then they should be treated as what they are.

Work Cited Page

http://www.helium.com/items/761965-should-the-children-who-killed-a-seven-year-old-mortal-kombat-style-be-tried-as

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/juvenile-delinquency-what-happens-typical-case-32223.html

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/juveniles-youth-adult-criminal-court-32226.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/should-juveniles-be-tried-as-adults.html

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/perspectives/kids-are-not-adults-and-trying-them-as-adults-is-both-inhumane-and-ineffective-249594/

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2006/02/06.html

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