Adult Sentencing Adolescents

Whether or not we should try juveniles as adults has always been a controversial issue. First of all, “juveniles” are children who fall under the age of 18. However, the legal age varies within certain states across the USA. Despite the age difference, some juveniles are still tried as adults. Does convicting a juvenile as an adult, turn out to be a better problem-solver, and how is this affecting the deterrence of crime?

There are times juveniles should not be convicted as adults because sometimes the “crimes” may not harsh enough to be charged as an adult. For example, if a 8 year old saw a gun in their mother's purse and thought it was a toy and grabbed it and began to shoot who would be at fault ? Plus children in adult prisons are 10 times more likely to be taken advantage of in their time. Research shows that children prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system are more likely to reoffend than those held in the juvenile justice

How would you feel if the police arrested kids all over our country to jail for just crossing the street the wrong way or pushing another kid on the playground? That is what is happening to many underage juvenile all over the United States; they are being sent to adult prisons for crimes that do not deserve such severe punishments. Why they were tried as adults is an enigma and we will explain why this is a terrible injustice. In 1899 children in between the ages of 7-14 were believed they were incapable of committing criminal intent. The court system back then believed that if enough evidence could be gathered to convince a jury, the underage person would be convicted and sent to an adult prison. Currently in our state, persons as

Teens should be spent to adult jail for the crime they committed! In the late 1980s juveniles have been committing crimes during the period of this time, many of them were getting in trouble more often, crimes were getting more violent by this time. On June 25, 2012 The Supreme Court justices who agrued to abolish mandatory sentences to life in prison for juveniles who commit murder or any crimes reflecting the will of Americans society should be punished as an adult . Justice Alito noted that , “Even a 17 ½ -year-old who set off a bomb in a crowded mall or guns down a dozen students and teacher is ‘child’ and must be given a chance to persuade a judge to permit his release into society…” In other words I agree that teens should be sentenced to life in prison, if I did the same crime I should be punished the same way as an adult who has committed the same crime because during this age I know what I am doing wrong and right. I believe that teen should be sentenced to life in prison because the victim's family reactions, rehabilitation, they should understand the consequences of their actions, mental health issues, and heinous crimes.

I am a concerned citizen of New York State and also a developmental psychologist specializing in stages of development in adolescents. I am writing to you because I was just made aware that, in NYS, adolescents still could receive the death penalty as a result of them committing a heinous crime. I believe during this particular stage of development, an adolescent is not fully capable of understanding the magnitude and seriousness of such an act. Psychosocial maturity is reached around the age of 24 that is when adolescents enter adulthood. Reaching cognitive maturity around the age of 16 does not assure maturation because the two structures develop at different rates and serve two different purposes, thus you need both

The New York State Legislators did the right thing and increased the age of criminal responsibility to eighteen-years-old. New York State will not automatically prosecute sixteen and seventeen-year-olds as adults anymore. Annually, nearly 28,000 sixteen and seventeen-year-olds face the possibility of criminal prosecution as an adult (Raise the age.com, n.d.). Now Adolescents don’t have to worry about adult prosecution in the criminal system. Sixteen and Seventeen-year-olds will have the opportunity to call their parents if they get arrested. Sixteen and

Did you know, that in the United States alone, Over 200,000 children are charged and imprisoned every year as adults? Early in the 20th century, most states established juvenile courts to rehabilitate and not just punish youthful offenders. The system was designed for children to have a second chance at their lives. “A separate juvenile-justice system, which sought to rehabilitate and not just punish children, was part of a movement by progressives to create a legally defined adolescence through the passage of child-labor and compulsory education laws and the creation of parks and open spaces.”(How to reduce crime Pg 1) Although the view on juveniles committing brutal crimes is nearly inconceivable, it is not a solution to give juveniles adult consequences because the effects of the adult system on juveniles are not effective.

The United States leads the world in the incarceration of young people, there are over 100,000 youth placed in jail each year. Locking up youth has shown very little positive impact on reducing crime. Incarcerating youth have posed greater problems such as expenses, limited education, lack of employment, and effect on juveniles’ mental and physical well-being.

If a juvenile, over fourteen has the ability and willingness to commit a violent crime they should be tried and punished as an adult. A fourteen year old knows right from wrong. He (or she) is able to tell whether they are committing a crime. If a juvenile is mature enough to commit an adult crime, they should be treated as an adult, and punished justly according to the adult law. The difference in age in two people should not determine their punishment if they have committed the same crime under the same or similar pretenses.

By law adolescents are not able to vote, purchase tobacco or alcohol, join the armed forces, or sign a legal contract. Children are not permitted the same rights and responsibilities as adults because the law recognizes their inability to make adult decisions. The law acknowledges that children are unable to handle the consequences that come along with the rights that adults have. By allowing them to be charged as adults is holding them to a double standard. Telling them that they are not old enough to enjoy the same luxuries as adults, but they can experience the same punishment as adults if they commit a crime. The law acknowledged the inability of children to make decisions but still allows them to suffer the same consequences as adults. Research demonstrates that transferring children from juvenile court to adult court does not decrease recidivism, and in fact actually increases crime. Instead of the child learning their mistake they are more likely to repeat it. Juvenile detention centers have programs that help reconstruct young minds and help them realize where they went wrong. Prison does not offer this same opportunity. (Estudillo, Mary Onelia)

P2 Taking the initiative to change the sentencing age for juveniles will help America not only use funds in a more constructive way, but will also help youth learn from their mistakes without being permanent. In 2004, WSIPP found that those programs such as functional family therapy and aggression replacement training help juveniles control their anger and aggression towards issues that spark inner conflict. Our government has realized this helpful tool and has begun funding these specific programs. As stated in Cost-Benefit analysis of Juvenile Justice Programs article, for every $11.66 that was spent juveniles committing felonies dropped by twenty-four percent. Another beneficial way our government has In Wisconsin, in 2004, it costs $68,255 to house a juvenile for 12 months. If enrolling ones juvenile into the Wraparound Milwaukee services, it has a monthly cost of $3,300 which for twelve months is $39,600 so it would be half the cost of housing in an actual prison and you could put two juveniles into this program for the price of one in prison. With that being said, by rising the age of

Should juveniles get adult jail sentences? In today's society juvenile offenders are facing the law to full force, in two court systems. Not only are they tried in the juvenile justice system, but also charged as adults. The issue of charging juveniles as adults has stirred various views owing to the violent crimes committed by the young offenders. Politicians comment that the best solution is to lock up juvenile offenders for a long time and ignore rehabilitation. However, prior researches on the topic of juvenile delinquencies suggest that trying young offenders in the adult legal system and putting them in adult prisons will only lead to increased crime, higher costs, and increased violence(John & Jiangmin 568).

On April 10, 2017, as part of FY 2018 Budget, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation raising the age for criminal accountability. New York state was one of the states that no matter what the offense was it still processed anyone in the age of sixteen and seventeen as adults in the criminal justice system. Although the legislation raised the age for criminal responsibility, protestors still think that it hasn’t done much for the teenagers who have committed a criminal act. The bill states that sixteen and or seventeen-years-old who have committed a felony crime will still be tried in court as an adult, and those who have committed misdemeanor crime will not be tried in court as an adult. Such bill will highly impact society, the criminal

A few responses consider that jail should be an option for teenagers. “Some juveniles commit crimes so horrific in their depravity that justice could not be carried out in the juvenile system.” (Charles D.Stimson, 2015) Charles believes that there are many situations where teenagers can go through the juvenile system, but if they do something really bad, they should be punished just like an adult. He uses a convincing example of a 16 year old girl, who plotted and executed a plan to kill her parents. He described that if a teenager can do an adult crime, they should be able to handle the consequences that adults have too. He presented his argument well with supporting facts. “Consequences are good, especially for early crimes. That's when punishment can help young people change and grow.”(Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins, 2015) In Jennifer’s argument, she uses a personal experience which made her feel this way. Jennifer’s pregnant sister, and her husband were murdered by a 16 year old. She makes some strong points as to why she feel that juveniles should be treated as adults. She uses pathos to appeal to the reader, and tries to produce an emotional insight. All arguments feel that this punishment should occur only in major criminal offenses. This side of the argument was well presented because of the facts, and experiences, and was thought to help society, but it did not mention the affect that this would have on the minor. Adding this point would make it more convincing, but the argument was gone about

I do not think it is a good idea to lock juveniles up in prisons with adults. For a child to set down and plan a murder for instance, there would have to be some kind of deep emotional problem. On the other side of this, if the child knows right from wrong and he can sit down and plan a murder, then you could say if he is old enough to kill someone then he is old enough to die. The juvenile criminal is rooted much deeper than right from wrong. It starts back from when they are small children. Most of them are usually outsiders or outcasts. Who can you hold fault for that other than society? If juveniles don't fit in with the popular kids in school they are considered an