Juveniles Should Not Be Tried As Adults

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?

Whether juveniles should be tried as adults in the justice system or not, has been an ongoing debate for many people. There has been many cases throughout time where people under the age of 18 have been tried as adults in the justice system. Information about this debate can be found in articles, novels, and podcasts. Typically people who are under the age of 18 are identified as a juvenile delinquent and go through different procedures after committing a crime. There is many examples and evidence of why juveniles should not be tried as adults. A juvenile is typically considered a person who is under 18 years of age.

Juveniles should be tried as adults when they commit serious crimes as opposed to rehabilitation or various forms of lesser sentencing. The rate of juveniles in prison has increased over the years. Many young adults and children often seek for attention which leads them to cause trouble out in the streets. There are risk levels that officers have to make in order to help the juveniles or if committing a serious crime, they should pay the consequences. Many may oppose and think that young adults and children are not adults, but they should be punished for the crimes they have done.

First, I believe that juveniles should not be tried as adults because their mentalities are not fully developed.

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

One of the most debatable topics in today’s justice system is whether or not juveniles should receive waivers to adult court. There are three methods that are used to transfer a juvenile to adult court. Juvenile waiver, statutory exclusion, and Concurrent Jurisdiction are the three different methods used to transfer a juvenile to adult court. Statutory exclusion is when the juvenile is transferred immediately to the adult court. Concurrent Jurisdiction is when the juvenile may be tried as an adult and a juvenile at once. Throughout all three methods juvenile waiver is the most common one that is used throughout juvenile courts and used in mostly all states. The only states that do not provide judicial waivers are Nebraska, New York, and New Mexico. When a judge transfers a juvenile to adult court, he or she is denying the protections that the juveniles receive. The judge makes the decision of whether or not the juvenile is tried as an adult. Double Jeapordy laws protect the juvenile from being tried in juvenile court and then adult court because of the fact that a juvenile would be tried twice. Most times 17 or 18 year olds are the youngest age limits that can be waived to adult court, but in some states ages low as 13 or 14 can be waived. It depends on the crime that a juvenile commits on whether or not he or she is transferred to adult court. Once the juvenile is tried as an adult, he or she will be affect in the community for a lifetime versus having his or her records

Many have discussed and argued if Juveniles should be charged as adults. Then there's others that believe that they shouldn't be charged as adults. However, juveniles should be tried as adults because they committed a crime in which they must pay for which they also knew it is wrong. They should be tried should depend on what age they are and what fractions have they encountered like rape, abuse, etc. If a 5 year old were to be playing with another kid and perhaps that 5 year old kills the child they have absolutely no idea of what they have done they are far too young to understand what they are doing or have done. Most of the time you have to take care of children because they are putting items in their mouth that they don’t know what it

Kenzie Houk had everything going for her. She was twenty-six, engaged to the love of her life, and was eight-and-a-half months pregnant. In the late winter of 2009, her four-year-old daughter waddled in her bedroom, hoping to surprise her mommy with a good morning smile. Instead, she found her mother with a bullet through her head. Eleven-year-old Jordan Brown, the soon-to-be stepson of Kenzie Houk, was arrested and charged with homicide, pulling the trigger before he went to school. There were two counts of homicide, one for Kenzie Houk and the other for her baby. Brown was tried in juvenile court and sentenced to a residential treatment facility until the age of twenty-one. To Kenzie Houk’s family, Brown’s sentence would never live up to that her four-year-old and seven-year old daughters would have to serve. “The day Kenzie was murdered, the whole family was served with a life sentence,” said Debbie Houk, the victim’s mother. “[Her daughters] are serving life right now. They are never going to see their mom” (Chen). Serious juvenile crimes, similar to this, cannot be properly justified in the juvenile justice system. Juveniles should be tried in the adult criminal court system for serious crimes because of the lack of severity in the juvenile court system, increased youth crime and recidivism rates, and the mental maturity of juvenile offenders.

Around 250,000 youth are tried, sentenced or incarcerated as adults in the United States every year. On any given day around 10,000 juveniles are housed in adult jails and prisons. Of the juveniles held in adult jails, most of them are awaiting trial, as 39 states are required that youth charged as adults be held in an adult jail before they are tried. Though as many as a half of them will not be convicted or will be sent back to juvenile justice systems, most will have spent at least one month in adult jail, and one in five of them will have spent over six months there. The juveniles held in adult prisons have been convicted as adults; the laws and standards of this practice vary widely by state.

Juveniles should be tried as adults because they only serve a few years in prison for doing harsh things. Manuel Sanchez and John Duncan committed a bloody murder by shooting a man several times in the chest, and John and Manuel were only twelve years old at the time. For example, “ It was a brutal, callous, bloody murder. But what is even more shocking to people in the small Washington town of Wenatchee is that John Duncan and Manuel Sanchez are only twelve years old.” I found this information in the article “ Rethinking Juvenile Justice” ( John, 1). Instead of the boys

Transferring Juveniles to Adult Court Youths are not generally tried in adult court for the crimes that they commit. This is because most of the crimes committed by youths are not serious enough to justify incarcerating them alongside adult offenders. Most youths are tried in juvenile court and are sentenced to serve time in juvenile detention facilities if convicted. However, this does not apply to youths who are convicted of more serious crimes, such as murder. The age at which a person can be tried in adult versus juvenile court differs between states.

When a person is charged with a crime, many people don't think that the age of said person is important because in their minds a criminal should be charged according to the law and not according to his or age. I believe that juveniles should not be tried as adults because trying them as adults affects them in ways that it does more harm than good for them and their community. The first effect of juveniles being tried as adults is that it “alters the legal process by which a

Juveniles need to be held accountable for their crimes, however, they should not be sent to life in prison. With an increasingly growing amount minors being trialed as adults for heinous crimes, people would ask “why would they commit it?” The answer lies within each juvenile's background, mental health, age, immaturity, and morality. Therefore, it is my belief that juveniles should not be trialed as an adult. Juveniles such as Manny, Shawn, Marquese, and José interviewed in PBS’ “Frontline” were involved in gangs, familial neglect and abuse, or drugging.

Court systems are left with difficult decisions. A controversial decision courts are faced with today is whether or not juveniles are to be tried as adults. The increasing number of incarcerated children in adult jails raises questions as to why. Adolescents sentenced to prison are more likely to be abused, commit suicide, or reoffend, thus committing more serious offenses. The statutes requiring juveniles to enter adult prisons are inhumane and in-just. Nevertheless, sentencing children to adult prisons continues regularly today. When adolescents commit crimes, they should be tried as juveniles rather than adults.

Juveniles are not prepared mentally for adult court. There brains are not fully matured to understand everything about an adult case. In an article about juveniles being tried as adults in criminal court emphasized that juveniles are significantly different from adults(Eberhardt).Juveniles have to finish living their young lives and learn life lessons before they should be tried as adults. Before the justice system tries them as adults, they should be given the proper knowledge about life and things such as the justice system. In another article about juveniles being tried as adults, it spoke about how Americans have accepted that juveniles are different from adults (Okonkwo). Well, if juveniles are different from adults why are the justice systems across America trying them as adults in criminal court. It just doesn't make any sense. Everyday the justice system is takes advantage of juveniles by trying them as adults in criminal court.It is a shame because it is obvious that juveniles are not ready for for an adult court. They are not mature enough, they deserve a chance at learning about every element of the justice system that could possibly affect their lives. It is mandatory that the country takes action and solve this crisis because it is killing the future of