Juvenile Crimes

In the 1990s, violent juvenile crime rates had reached record high levels throughout the United States. During these years, many Americans considered the criminal justice system too easy on violent juvenile offenders and demanded reform. Many states, including Florida began to focus efforts on juvenile crime. “Florida’s criminal sentencing laws and punishment policies from 1980 to 2000 reflected an ongoing, focused effort to deter serious crimes” (Taylor). Crimes were given stricter sentencing guidelines. Serious offenses carried mandatory minimum sentences. “When it comes to kids and crime, Florida is known and the toughest state in the nation” (Clary). More juveniles are prosecuted as adults than in all other states combined. Juveniles were at the hands of these harsher adult sentences.

There is much debate over whether or not juveniles should ever be tried as adults. Juveniles are defined as children under the age of 18. In the past, juveniles have been tried in a separate juvenile court because of their age. However, trying juveniles as adults for violent crimes is a trend that is on the rise. Age is supposed to be a deterrent for placing those under 18 on trial and giving them stiffer punishments that are often reserved for adults. Many debate whether or not juveniles really should have less severe punishments or if trying some juveniles as adults will lower juvenile crime rates.

Juvenile Delinquency is the participation of illegal behavior by a minor who falls under a statutory age limit. A delinquent is a minor who commits a crime or a status offense. A status offense is conduct that is illegal only because the child is under age i.e. smoking cigarettes (Senna 10, 20). The cases of Eric Smith, Lionel Tate, and an unidentified NJ child are similar only because, they are guilty of killing another child, but the Criminal Justice System treated and punished them very differently. In August 1993 in Savona, New York 13 year old Eric Smith killed 4 year old Derrick Robie. Smith lured Robie into the woods and strangled, beat with large rocks, and sodomized Robie. Smith was questioned by police and kept changing some

Are crime rates for juveniles in the United States on the rise or are they falling? What kinds of crimes are juveniles typically arrested for? Are all the laws and policies with reference to juvenile justice seen as truly fair? Should a juvenile be locked up for life without the possibility of parole? What has the U.S. Supreme Court ruled as to locking juveniles up for life without the possibility of parole? These and other issues will be discussed in this speech.

The underlying assumptions about juveniles is that they are not developmentally able to be treated as adults, and that they can be put through rehabilitation programs and change for the better. Whereas adults are thought as not being able to change their ways, so locking them up is a more suitable answer. Juveniles are also thought of as not knowing their rights, leading to unfair

The United states, has more Violent juvenile crimes, due to the access of guns, drug trafficking gangs, Death squads, –Drug lords and Juvenile gangs. What makes, America different is the way in which measures are conducted in the courtroom as well as the sentencing process. To start every country, has their own definition of what qualifies for juvenile crime and the age range.

minorities than whites. Data of 2008 indicated that 52% of juvenile violent crime index arrests

Every person in life has their own opinion and juvenile crimes are not an exemption to that. Those that are against in make their case known. Statistics show a child between the age of 9 to 10 cannot fully understand the consequences of committing a crime and are therefore cannot be tried as an adult who is fully developed as a person. Children process information differently than adults. For example, when an adult sees a piece of candy on the ground they try not to step on it, but when a kid sees candy on the ground their first thought is “oh candy’. Infections, germs, diseases, and viruses are all possible from that candy, but a child does not take the consequences into the equation. They want what they want. The question of should juveniles be tried as adults says they against it because they can not see long term. The

Juvenile delinquents committing criminal offenses are nothing new to the criminal justice system, but the question on how they should be sentenced has never been agreed upon. The general consensus on the legal quagmire the issue presents has historically been one of hostility and unmerciful to the age of the accused with sentences varying from decades behind bars to the “supreme measure” of state sponsored death. However, recently public and legal opinion has turned in favor of a more lenient approach for children who commit heinous acts, and such reform is needed desperately. Criminals under the age of adulthood should be tried as juveniles and not under the adult courts. As to the functionality of such a system in which age is a factor in criminal cases has yet to be further developed.

The legislation of trying and sentencing youth criminals under adult justice system has been a hot topic of debate. Supporters of tough laws on insist the need to enforce harsh penalties to uphold justice. The practice of treating youth criminals as adults since the 1990s is a result of the steep rise in youth crimes. However, youth advocates argue that tough laws should not be applied to youth offenders anymore. The core issue of the controversy is whether, because adolescents are biologically and mentally different from adults, they should be treated differently. For minor offenses such as property crime in which nobody is

The issue of whether juveniles should be prosecuted like adults is a controversial one. Today, a high percent of juvenile offenders have a past criminal history or have been arrested for violent crimes such as rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and homicide. These offenses are serious and should be dealt with seriously. If a juvenile choses to act in violence and currently been on probation for such acts, then perhaps, they should be treated in the adult court. If the juvenile is, a repeat offender and they did not learn anything from the rehabilitation facilities provided by the state, harsh consequences should follow. It is estimated that seventy-five percent of adolescents who spent time in juvenile detention centers are incarcerated

The definition of a juvenile is a person of a young age who has committed a crime. This young age may vary from one through seventeen. Essentially these juveniles are considered to be children, in which case means they are not fully matured. Children mess up; they do things they are not supposed to, test limits, and push people to their max because they are not fully aware of the consequences that lie ahead of them due to the fact that their maturity level is still relatively low. With that being said, juveniles should not be tried as adults when being sentenced because these teens have not fully developed.

According to the website Lawyer Shop, “The most common juvenile crimes are made on account of theft, simple assault, drug abuse, etc. Juvenile delinquents are kids or teens from the ages of ten to seventeen who commit a crime. Teen crime has actually decreased by more than half from where it was ten years ago. Juvenile delinquents are not much of a problem as they were ten years ago. People who support the juvenile court system argue that juveniles should be sentenced on how severe the crime was; however, child advocates argue that juveniles should be given treatment. Therefore should children under the age of seventeen be given rehab on a crime committed or be punished on the cruelty of the crime?

Murderers, rapists, and other criminals are being released from jail everyday after serving only very short and lenient sentences. What makes them so special? The criminals are juveniles who commit adult crimes. They are being tried every day in juvenile courts, they are receiving shortened sentences, and they are being released and given new identities to continue to live their lives in peaceful and happy, all while their victims and their families are left to suffer forever. Because the courts and juvenile rights advocates believe that second chances should be given to youths who commit crimes.

A traumatic childhood may predispose a child to violence against themselves or against others, in adolescence or adulthood. This information is and has been off the records, but so far no known relationship between the magnitude of traumatic experiences and different forms of violence at puberty. A study published in Pediatrics, which involved 136,549 U.S. students between 12 and 17 has been commissioned to evaluate this relationship. The researchers sought to determine six adverse experiences for which they had passed the boys in childhood and physical and sexual abuse, witnessing abuse or problems at home by alcohol or drugs taken by a relative. Then he saw the violent behavior at puberty: crime, harassment, bullying, dating violence,