Mandatory Restitution For Juveniles

Identity theft is a significant problem to both citizens and financial institutions. The FTC estimates that over 27.3 million Americans have been the victims of identity theft in the past five years. The

            Identity theft is an issue faced on a daily basis for those that are living in our wonderful state of California. For some it is common knowledge to protect your identity but for those that are not familiar with the practices of these common crooks, will cost a lifetime of savings and irreparable damage to ones credit and finances. According to the California Office of Privacy Protection, “there were more than 11 million victims of Identity Theft in the

David is a 13 year old had a few brushes with the law in the form of truancy, loitering, and damage to property. David burglarized garages where miscellaneous tools and other personal property were stolen. With his cooperation, the judge developed a restorative justice plan as his punishment for the crimes he committed. The restorative justice plan for him will be community service, compensation and circle sentencing.

What do you believe each writer’s stronger topic to be? The topic the writers choose is very interesting and it is a current issue in our criminal justice system. The writer have chooses a very interesting topic would be able to find valuable sources and evidences that show how effective a restorative justice program would be for juveniles. Also, the writer would be able to find arguments that are against or for restorative justice program for first-time juveniles’ offenders.

Juvenile courts have a wide range of sentencing options (usually called "disposition orders") that they can impose on juveniles or youth offenders who are found to be "delinquent" (that is, finding that the minor violated a criminal law). Typically, disposition options fall into two camps: incarceration and non-incarceration. One non-incarceration option in particular -- probation -- forms the backbone of the juvenile justice system. Read on to learn about the different kinds of sentencing options used in juvenile court, the ins and outs of probation, and whether a disposition order can be appealed or changed. (For more information on juvenile court cases, see Nolo's article Juvenile Court: An Overview.)

Approximately two million adolescents a year are arrested and out of that two million, 60,000 of them are incarcerated according to the American Journal of Public Health. The 60,000 incarcerated adolescents each year are being tried as adults in court because of the serious crimes they have committed. The crimes they have committed are anything from armed robbery to murder. Some juveniles might be first time offenders and others might be repeat offenders. Crimes have always been a major issue in the United States and can cause controversy in the criminal justice system. Charging a minor as an adult in criminal court varies from state to state based on each state’s jurisdiction. Some states consider anyone up to the age of 18 still a juvenile and would not be charged as an adult in criminal court, but other states may charge a juvenile as an adult at the age of 16 or 17. Jordan (2014) states, “Although states already had methods for transferring youth to the adult system, as a result of the growing fear of juvenile violence, most states implemented new laws to increase the number of youth entering the adult criminal system’ (Bernard & Kurlychek, 2010; Torbet et al., 1996)” (p. 315). While it sounds beneficial to incarcerate more adolescents in the adult criminal justice system to avoid juveniles from committing crimes in the future, that is not always the case. Incarcerating these juveniles can be life changing in a negative

In the United States, “an estimated 7,100 juvenile defendants were charged with felonies in adult criminal court in 1998” ("Juvenile Defendants"). These numbers portray how there were a lot of juveniles being charged. In addition to a large increase in the amount of crime, there was a change in the severity of the crimes that were committed, “the number of violent crimes committed by young people declined substantially from the 1990s to 2003, but then surged again that year, with the estimated number of juvenile murder offenders increasing 30 percent” (Kahn). These numbers show how juveniles were committing more crimes that were serious in the face of the law. These numbers are a brief snippet of

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.

There are several reasons that victims are not receiving restitution. However, the primary reason is that a significant number of crimes are not reported. Nevertheless, other factors must also be considered, such as offenders not being caught or convicted and victims not going through with prosecution. Apparently, if these factors are eliminated, victims would receive reimbursements, not to mention more criminals would be off the streets (Karmen, 2010).

Punishment is an element of a proper policy against juvenile crime. Juvenile criminals must suffer some consequence for their criminal action. To let them go without punishment, would encourage criminality and discourage responsibility, but just throwing juveniles in a detention facility until they are 18 or before is most likely not going to have much influence just by itself. They need a combination of supportive counseling, psychiatric assessment, vocational training, and educational support. Essential care that they are missing from home is important. They also need to be challenged regarding their present path in life, like gangs, drugs etc. Counselors can provide therapeutic interventions in which the juveniles may learn to create more

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.

I think that the criminal justice system should have different penalties and treatments for juveniles as opposed to adults. I think that responding to juvenile offending is a unique policy and practice challenge. According to most statistics, a substantial proportion of crime is perpetrated by juveniles. However, I think, for the most time, many juveniles will ‘grow out’ of offending and become law-abiding citizens as they mature. In other words, I think communities understand, or should understand, that the younger a person is, the more likely it is that they can change. Most importantly, we should realize that juveniles do not have the level of maturity, thought process, decision-making, experience, or wisdom as presumably adults should

Think some teenagers are getting out of hand these days, or heading down the wrong path? There are many different types of alternative punishment; the amount of juvenile crime would dramatically drop if any of these were more greatly enforced. The most effective way to help these teenagers and to get them started down the correct path is enforcing alternative punishment upon them. This form of punishment is sometimes also known as juvenile justice, restorative justice, and community justice (Karp, 2004). One of the most important characteristics of this punishment is "the idea of discussion, dialogue, and negotiation between the parties involved in and affected by a given crime" (Karp, 2004, ph. 2). This not only forms a connection between

Restitution as a means of rehabilitating offenders tries to give the offenders a better understanding of what they have done, and the effects they have caused due to their actions. Punishing them with jail time does not seem to be enough to get offenders to understand the magnitude of their crime. If they have the ability to pay back the victims it will give them a sense of accomplishment and will allow them to feel as if they are doing good and correcting their mistakes. Restitution as a means of reconciling offender and their victims give the ideology that if they fully paid the person they hurt that they can both put their anger behind them and move on from what had happened.

Have you ever received a credit card bill at the end of the month with a ridiculous amount of money needed to be paid that you never spent? This is because of identity theft. The FTC estimates that each year, over 9 million people are affected by identity theft. According to Sally Driscoll, this is because almost anyone with a computer and a slight bit of computer knowledge can pull off identity theft. Experts also claim that identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the world. Identity theft is a global problem that cannot be stopped without effective measures. The problem is, effective measures are very hard to come by when dealing with identity theft because almost any security protocol can be by-passed.