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Why shouldn't juvenile offenders be tried as adults
Why shouldn't juvenile offenders be tried as adults
Why shouldn't juvenile offenders be tried as adults
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Recommended: Why shouldn't juvenile offenders be tried as adults
Larbie, Tatiana
Mrs. Cox
American Studies 3
10/04/2017
Why is a 16 year old only a delinquent and an 18 year old a criminal if they committed the same crime? Juvenile delinquents need to be tried as adult because ,rehab clearly doesn't work for the juvenile offenders they tend to just stay through the rehab and then they go back to their old ways. Also because repetition continues with these offenders within a year or so. Lastly they know they can get off as children so they will test the system before they're 18. Juveniles with multiple offences should be tried as adults because if you can drive at 16 you can commit a crime. Juvenile offenders should be tried as adults for multiple reasons but a main reason would be rehabilitation doesn't work on teens like it should. Rehab doesn't work because they usually end up back in jail right after. Changes made to most states. “Juvenile codes in the lados strike a proper balance
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But as a teenager you want to be a rebel and do whatever you want and not get that much of a consequence. “Youth who have a long history of conclusions for crime after crime disposition have been ineffective” In this quote it is stating how teens will continue to do crime after crime especially if they have had a bad childhood or something tragic has happened to them. They will be hurt and will just go out go out of control and try to rebel. If they were charged as adults parents, or any adult would have to worry about this because the teenagers would know their boundaries and know they need to stay inline or they would be doing serious time. Felonies can be very small, but it's the fact that teenagers continue to break the laws with no remorse. The last reason they should be tried as adults is because as long as they know that they can test the limits they will not stop until they’re in prison for the rest of their
The central idea of this article is to show the two sides of the prompt ¨should Juveniles be tried as adults?¨ This article uses a lot of stories to help back herself up in her answer. The authority with the author/creator is trustworthy because, Jessica Reaves works for a trustworthy place ¨Time¨ The difficult part of trusting the accuracy of the article is, it was published in 2001 which could have a lot of changes in roughly 15 or 16 years. The article uses examples of juvenile violence to prove the point that kids are treated differently from adults. Readers can use this article to prove that kids are incapable of understanding the consequences of their action.
The article titled “ Juvenile Justice from Both Sides of the Bench”, published by PBS, and written by Janet Tobias and Michael Martin informs readers on numerous judges’ opinions on the juveniles being tried as adults. Judge Thomas Edwards believed that juveniles should not be tried as adults because they are still not mature enough to see the consequences of their actions and have a chance to minimize this behavior through rehabilitation programs. Judge LaDoris Cordell argues that although we shouldn’t give up on juveniles and instead help them be a part of society, however, she believes that some sophisticated teens that create horrible crimes should be tried as adults. Bridgett Jones claims that teens think differently than adults and still
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.
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.
According to the article of “Should Juveniles Be Tried as Adults?” at Buzzle.com, “It is a proven fact that when a child is at the age around nine or ten that they do not have the mental accessibility to think as an adult” (Borkar). Citizens see this statistic as a reason as to why children should not be tried as adults. “Children are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted in adult prisons than in juvenile facilities” (Equal Justice Initiative). These juveniles are subject to much harsher punishments which includes life sentencing (Michon). These people do not feel that these children should be in a prison for the rest of their life for something they did when they were 13. Broken families can be a reason for a child to rebel and become trouble. “Psychology speaking, it is said that there are no ‘problem children’ but only ‘problem parents’” (Borkar). Parents roles are to guide their kids in the right way. Children will not know what is right or wrong if parents do n...
Thirteen-year-old boy, Cristian Fernandez of Jacksonville, Florida was born on January 14 of 1999 to a mother who was as old as he is today. On March 15 2011, he was arrested relating to the alleged beating of his 2-year-old brother, David. At the time of his arrest, David was under care of St. Luke’s Hospital, receiving treatment for injuries he sustained the day before. It states that Cristian shoved his 2-year-old brother against a bookshelf, causing the young child to have severe head damage. Cristian’s mom, who was only 24 at the time, arrived at the apartment to reveal what happened just moments before. However, it states that his mom did not even call the police or take her son to the hospital until 6 hours after the accident happened. Both Cristian and his mom were charged with murder and Cristian went to court facing life in an adult prison. However, the court found out that Cristian had once been physically, emotionally, and sexually abused by his once stepfather. That been said, Cristian more than likely needed some sort of counseling. However, they still believed that this 12 year-old boy should be tried as an adult. Cristian has been detained for over a year and has not yet had a trial. He faces two trials on three separate indictments brought by State Attorney (“Reverse”). There is no logical reason to deny a child their right to the programs and treatment provided through the juvenile court system.
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.
Legal procedures and laws that relate to juvenile offenders go back thousands of years when children disobeyed their parents, and sons would curse their fathers. The Roman civil law and canon law 2,000 years ago distinguished juveniles and adults based upon the idea of “age of responsibility”. The Moslem law also believed in leniency in punishing youthful offenders and children under the age of 17 be exempt from the death penalty. Roman law children under the age of 7 were classified as infants and were not held criminally responsible. If the youth were approaching the age of puberty and knew the difference between right and wrong, at that time, they would they be held accountable for the crimes they committed. In the 15-Century, England created a petition to those in need of aid or intervention, generally for women and children who were in need of assistance because of divorce, death of a spouse, or abandonment. The king could exercise the right of parens patriae, which became a basis for the juvenile court in America and was a doctrine that gave the courts authority over juveniles that were in need of guidance and protection, and would allow the state to act in loco parentis (in place of the parents) and to provide guidance and make decisions concerning the best interest of the child. Another pivotal point in the development of the juvenile justice system in America was what became known as the “child-saving movement”. T...
Vandergoot determines that the reasoning capacity of an adolescent, the ability to make legal decisions, and filter unnecessary information is unclear to a juvenile in the justice system; the vagueness of youth stepping into the courts prevents them from fully participating in the justice system. ( Vandergoot, 2006). As a result of this impreciseness youth encounter Vandergoot concludes a separate justice system allocated for youth to adhere to adolescent needs. Vandergoot discusses the Youth Criminal Justice Act a justice system devised to adhere to youth needs. She summarizes the system that benefits young offenders in contrast to adult offenders.
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.
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.
One reason why juvenile offenders should not be tried as adult is because they are far from adulthood. Many teenager who have committed a crime has a different background. For example, they have suffered sex abused, their parents have been drug addicted , or have been in prison for many years. There are many factors
In the second article “Cruel Punishment for Juveniles” the authors hold a different view from Linda J. Collier. Treating juveniles as adults only helps society to forget that they are really still kids. They feel that subjecting children to adult punishment is cruel and unusual. They think, “Most youthful wrong-doers do not become adult criminals. There are turning points----quality education, well paid work, stable marriage------ that helps young offenders become law-abiding adults.” (Pg. 637) Certain community youth programs that deal with kids have shown to work in dealing with juveniles.
Although teenager is bound to make mistakes, some of these mistakes such as shoplifts and other petty crimes should not be met with severe punishment such as trying and sentencing a minor to a term in jail. However, age should not be a determinant of capital crimes such as rape or murder (Blyth & Roberts, 2014). These kinds of crime are committed after the culprit put considerable thought into them. Treating any teenager capable of torturing and taking the life of another human being as a child is not acceptable and countermeasures should be used to deal with the culprit. By allowing them to go free means that to a greater