Juveniles and Prison “I used to believe are our future but now I realize that this, sadly isn’t the reality. Through laws that treat kids like adults, the government is throwing away the future of children in this country.” (D. Lee) An estimated 200,000 juveniles are tried as adults. The term juvenile refers to any young person under the age of 18. For most states in the United States, the age of majority is 18. While there are many things that juveniles are unable to do until they reach the age of 18, being charged as an adult for a crime is not amongst those things in some states. Juveniles are not allowed to vote, drink alcohol, or sign a legal contract, yet they can be charged and treated like adults when it comes to them being …show more content…
By 2003, almost half of the U.S states adopted these same laws. Some of the states such as Wyoming lowered the legal age from 14 to 10. 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)
The frequency of children committing crimes has been on a steady rise for the past couple of
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
There have been many studies conducted that examine ways in which the juvenile justice system responds to female offenders. Historically juvenile female offenders have been treated under status offense jurisdiction (Zahn et al., 2010, p. 10). United States Courts would exercise the principle of “parens patriae” to place the female in detention as a form of punishment for misbehavior (Sherman, 2012, pp. 1589-1590). This principle also remains prevalent as it pertains to how the juvenile justice system currently responds to juvenile female offenders.
Today’s heated debate regarding the decision to try juveniles as adults has prompted individuals to construct opinionated and informational articles on the topic. The nation’s troubled youth are protected by groups that believe these offenders deserve rehabilitation and a chance to develop into a productive member of society. However, others believe that those committing certain heinous crimes should be tried as adults as a means to protect public safety, prevent second offenders, and “dispense justice in the form of punishment” (Aliprandini & Michael, 2016). Because these perspectives offer a reasonable and valid argument, juveniles responsible for major crimes
There are many similarities and differences between the adult and juvenile justice systems. Although juvenile crimes have increased in violence and intensity in the last decade, there is still enough difference between the two legal proceedings, and the behaviors themselves, to keep the systems separated. There is room for changes in each structure. However, we cannot treat/punish juvenile offenders the way we do adult offenders, and vice versa. This much we know. So we have to find a way to merge between the two. And, let’s face it; our juveniles are more important to us in the justice system. They are the group at they
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.
Juveniles committing crimes is not a new issued being introduced to society; actually, it has been an issue for centuries. However, the big question is, should juveniles be tried in adult courts? Before answering, take into consideration every possible scenario that could have led them to commit the crime. For instance, were they the leader in the act? Did they participate in the crime? Was the juvenile even aware of what was taking place? Were they peer pressured? Did they have any other choice at the time? There are so many other questions we could consider when making a decision here.
“The juvenile justice system was first created in the late 1800s to reform United States policies on how to handle youth offenders. Since that time, a number of reforms - aimed at both protecting the "due process of law" rights of youth, and creating an aversion toward jail among the young - have made the juvenile justice system more comparable to the adult system, which is a shift from the United States’ original intent (2008,Lawyer Shop.com).” The
Since they are minors they should be in juvenile prisons not in adult prisons, because they do not get the help they need. For example, Mrs. Jones decided not to take Roger to the authorities for trying to steal her purse instead she teaches him right from wrong. Mrs. Jones taught Roger to do the right thing because she recognizes that Roger is just a young boy, and that he is still learning his right from wrongs. If Mrs. Jones took Roger to jail, there would be no one to teach him right from wrong, if Mrs. Jones took Roger to jail he would have never gotten a second chance to do something right. In addition, the article “Teens and decision making: what brain science reveals” states that the brain of a minor do not fully
What is the point of sending juveniles to federal prison if when they get out they haven't learned their lesson and keep committing crimes? Why is it that a state that raised its family court’s age limit now has the lowest number of young adult prisoners in its adult prisons? These are questions I have been asking myself for the past couple of weeks, and while thinking, I have come to the consensus that juveniles should not be charged as adults for violent crimes.
A deep look into juveniles in adult prisons. Touch bases on several smaller issues that contribute to juveniles being in and effects of adult prisons. The United States Bureau of Prisons handles two hundred and thirty-nine juveniles and their average age is seventeen. Execution of juveniles, The United States is one of only six countries to execute juveniles. There are sixty-eight juveniles sitting on death row for crimes committed as juveniles. Forty-three of those inmates are minorities. People, who are too young to vote, drink alcohol, or drive are held to the same standard of responsibility as adults. In prisons, they argue that the juveniles become targets of older, more hardened criminals. Brian
“America’s heavy reliance on juvenile incarceration is unique among the world’s most developed countries.” Annie Casey, advocate for the improvement of imprisonment conditions for juvenile, states. Despite a lower youth crime rate compared than in past decades, the Unites States is the leading country that incarcerates minors in the world, in the nation 591 detention facilities. There are approximately 3,000 individuals serving life sentence for crimes that were committed before they turned 18 years old, in the United States. In the rest of the world combined, there is about only 16 individuals serving life sentences for crimes committed when they were minors. Minors should not
For example,some of these children might be getting abused at home by their relatives or a close family friend/s. you also have to consider mental illness. “65 to 70% of 2 million children and adolescents arrested each year in the United States have a mental disorder” ( nscl.org). this might be the cause of them to kill or commit the felonies. An perfect example of this was,14 year old Morgan Lane Arnold was charged with conspiracy of the death of her father. The judge ruled that she suffered mental disorder ( baltimoresun). But she was still sentenced to 3-4 years in jail (
Imagine sitting in a courtroom, hoping the the judge will not give a harsh sentence. Unfortunately, that’s the case for many juveniles, some as young as 13! A juvenile is subject to a more severe sentence with the limited sentencing available. It is estimated that 250,000 youth are prosecuted as adults, each year. This number should change, as juveniles are not adults, both mentally and physically. Juveniles need an environment surrounded with guiding adults, education and the resources to help them. A juvenile is not an adult, and should not be tried as one.
Whoever commits a crime, must be punished. This is one of the common notion in human nature from time immemorial. Scientifically, we can say that, every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction. So, when punished, they learn that what they did was wrong and in most cases would never repeat it again. Among punishments, the most prominent one is imprisonment. People are confined inside bars for their acts, including children. They are given the name called juveniles. The juvenile system was created for youth under the age of 17 that require incarnation. Off course, this system can lead to the betterment of children, but it can predominantly cause lot of side effects towards the juveniles. Therefore, child imprisonment can cause more harms and dangers towards a teen’s life because, it can affect them both psychologically and physically which can lead to self-degradation.