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Should Juveniles offenders be tried and punished as adults?
A crime is a crime regardless of age. If they did the crime, they should do the time. Juveniles try to push the law to the limits due to their age. They are unaware and don’t realize their criminal history will follow them all their lives. Juvenile offenders should be tried and punished as adults based on the crime, criminal history of the individual, and the personality of the offender.
Based on the crime
Every offense is different from case to case. There are two types of crimes a misdemeanor and a felony. Misdemeanors are small nonviolent crimes such as a drug charge under twenty grams, and accessory to a crime; where they’re at the wrong place at the wrong time. That carries only a maximum sentence of twelve months in a county jail. A felony is a serious crime such as kidnapping, murder, rape, arson or a drug charge over twenty grams and intent to sell drugs. Many of these crimes listed carry a minimum of three hundred and sixty six days in a state prison.
Criminal history of the individual
In life, people live and...
Day after day in this country there is a debate going on about the death penalty and whether we as people have the right to decide the fate of another persons life. When we examine this issue we usually consider those we are arguing about to be older men and women who are more than likely hardened criminals with rap sheets longer than the height we stand (Farley & Willwerth, 1998). They have made a career of crime, committing it rather than studying it, and somewhere along the line a jury of their peers decided enough was enough. They were handed down the most severe and most final punishment of them all, death. Behind all of the controversy that this issue raises lies a different group of people that are not so often brought into the lime light, juveniles.
A criminal is obviously an individual who commits a crime, but what is crime? A crime is any act or omission of an act in violation of a public law. Though most laws are common throughout America, some laws are also established by local and state governments as well. Criminal laws and penalties vary from state to state. Crimes include both felonies and misdemeanors. Felonies are serious crimes like murder or rape and are punishable by imprisonment for a year or more. The consequence for felonies such as murder and treason can be the death penalty. Misdemeanors are less serious crimes like petty theft or speeding and are punishable by less than a year in prison. Fines are also punishments of both misdemeanors and felonies. The fine’s amount is determined by the seriousness of the case. However, no act is a crime unless it has been stated as such by an American law or statute.
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.
Many people assume that teenagers should not be sentenced as adults, because their brain is not fully developed. On the other hand, people believe if teenagers commit crimes then they need to have consequences for their actions. According to the Campaign for Youth Justices, about 250,000 teenagers are tried, sentenced, or incarcerated as adults every year in the United States (Campaign for Youth Justices 3). Therefore, charging teenagers as adults is fair, because they are human beings just like adults.
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.
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.
"Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time." -- David Grusin and Morgan Ames Much controversy exists on the question of whether a juvenile criminal should be punished to the same extent as an adult. Those who commit capital crimes, including adolescents, should be penalized according to the law. Age should not be a factor in the case of serious crimes.
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.
There is a no exceptions when it comes to minors trying to purchase alcohol. If your twenty-first birthday is tomorrow they will not sell you alcohol. There isn 't an exception that states sometimes it is acceptable if the buyer deserves it. When a defendant is put on trial it needs to be the same way. It doesn 't matter what the crime is, age should effect where the criminal is facilitated. With age serving no factor it shows this double standard with the court system. If you send these criminals to adult facilities you are setting them up for failure in the future. Juveniles are never held as responsible as adults in our society. If a child gets in trouble at a young age in school, their parents are called. The idea here is that if it is a criminal action all of our beliefs change when in reality it is still a juvenile who isn 't fully matured and makes mistakes. It is not acceptable to let a criminal off with what they have done because of their age. It is necessary to facilitate them with other adolescents to protect
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.
Should juveniles be sentenced to prison for life? Should juveniles be trialed as adults after committing a heinous crime and sentenced to life? As a teenager, this question is far too complicated to answer because I am a teenager yet in my opinion, I believe that the juvenile should not be sentenced to life. I believe that there is another way to punish them for their crimes. The last execution was in 2006 in California.
Under the law depending on the state and with some expectations, being punished for a felony isn’t that simple. Prisoners not only serve their time in jail for the crime that they have committed, but many of them would also lose their rights and opportunities upon their release. For example, they lose their right to vote, their right to bear arms, public social benefits, certain employment opportunities, and are prohibited from certain areas because of their criminal record. This law can be problematic, especially for young people as they are young and are still learning from their mistakes. Yet, there is a possibility that a crime that they have committed when they were younger could still affect them through adulthood.
So they are usually imprisoned for more than a year. For example homicide, burglary, and kidnapping are examples of felony. If an act of violence occur when these things are taking place it’s consider a felony and not a criminal. There was news on “Two arrested after east Tulsa burglary” on September 29, 2015. On this one it was a criminal case because they were caught.
Juveniles should be treated as adults and be given a life sentencing because of the lack of equality that should be given to every person worldwide regardless of their ethnicity and age. When committing such a crime, juveniles should be sentenced to the same punishment as an adult and if a life sentence is given to a specific adult it should be given to the juvenile as well. It would be entirely unfair to have an extraordinary child or teen to be set free for the murderous cause he has done to a person that also an adult would commit.
Throughout time the department of justice have to face difficult cases in life. Their decision is meant to make the country better. Unfortunately, in cases dealing with juveniles; they are being punished the same as adults for heinous crimes. I believe juveniles who commit heinous crimes should not be tried as adults. Putting kids in jail is ridiculous and is not justifiable because it does not solve the solution. Most that are punished with this sentence are just messed up for life.