“In 2008, police arrested an estimated 2.1 million persons under the age of 18. The majority of these juveniles (67%) were referred to juvenile court jurisdiction. The police used discretion to handle and release a portion (22%) of these youths” (Lopez 2016). That means that 273,000 juveniles were prosecuted and punished as adults, some even receiving life in prison. This begs the question should juveniles, regardless of offense, be tried as adults? When discussing juveniles, it is important to understand the legal protections that are afforded to persons less than eighteen years of age. Equally important is why these protections were deemed necessary. These protections are extremely significant and alter the way juveniles interact with the …show more content…
Martin. At the time of the incident, Martin was only fourteen years old. He was charged with robbery, assault, and weapons possession and was held in detention pending the trial because the court believed he might continue to commit crime given his past criminal history. It was perceived as though Martin was being convicted and presumed guilty. This violated the U.S. Constitution’s due process clause, because it essentially allowed for punishment without trial. Martin noted that most children subject to preventive detention either had their charges dismissed or were released immediately on being found guilty (Kempf, …show more content…
Many jurisdictions have responded with so called “get tough” legislation. This type of legislation is a staple in the Crime Control Era that has taken the place of the Juvenile Rights Era, which ended around 1980. One such piece of legislation was Michigan’s Juvenile Waiver Law of 1997. In Michigan, prior to 1988, seventeen year-olds were the only minors automatically tried as adults, all others stayed in juvenile courts that afforded them the benefits discussed earlier. However, in response to rising violence get tough reforms were imposed. Kids, as young as fifteen, were now being tried automatically as adults for serious crimes. Additionally, if convicted of first-degree murder the judge can then choose to sentence the youth to a juvenile facility until twenty-one years of age, or mandatory life in adult prison. Then in 1997, legislation got even tougher. Fourteen year olds were now automatically charged as adults for serious offenses. Additionally, adult courts can no longer chose juvenile sentencing. One senator who helped craft the tougher legislation stated, “it doesn’t matter so much whether it’s 12 or 14 or 50 or 60, the Juvenile justice reform act’s basic finding was that if you do the crime, you do the time” (Barnes 2011). The number of juveniles serving life in adult correctional facilities
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?
No matter their age, when it comes to serious offenses juveniles should be tried as adults because the understanding of what is right and wrong is known by young children, if they have the ability to commit a crime they should be charged as adults, and without them being trying
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.
There are many controversies that surround juveniles being rehabilitated rather than going through the adult justice system, but studies show that juveniles are not fully developed to be tried as an adult. One of the main questions that it always boils down to is “should juveniles be tried as adults?” in my opinion juveniles should not be tried as adults because of their age.
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
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.
While some individuals feel that exposure to an adult sanction will have a negative effect on the health of juveniles, the major crimes committed by these minors are the same as those committed by their surrounding adult inmates. The threat of adult incarceration will also repel juveniles from committing serious crimes. According to Professor Morgan Reynolds from Texas A&M University, “Between 1980 and 1993 juvenile crime rose alarmingly, and as the states toughened their approach during the 1990s, it declined just as steeply” (2005). In addition, incarceration lowers the chances of reoffending (Schneider cited by Reynolds, 2005). Enforcing laws that discourage juveniles from executing major crimes are effective in reducing crime rates and implementing public safety. Also, those that have already committed severe crimes are less likely to reoffend after exposure to adult sanction. Like Christopher Simmons, juveniles are aware of the crimes they are committing, and may even be proud of their actions. Regardless of the motive, teens committing major offenses should be placed in adult sanctions because their actions are no different than adult offenders. The intimidation of adult detention is successful in both deterring juvenile crime, and appropriately holds minors accountable for their severe offenses.
In 1997 28 states had already put into exclusion the offense of murder from the juvenile system. This meaning that a youth would be sent directly into the adult system if he or she was facing such a charge. This number is most likely going to increase that has put more emphasis on the debate of juveniles sent into the adult system. According to
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.
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.
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.
In my own opinion, I consider juveniles as immature because they lack the ability to recognize the long term impact of their actions as they have decreased levels of responsibility. Therefore, the justice system should not charge juveniles in adult legal system and sentence them as adults.Trying juveniles as adults exposes the young offenders to state penitentiaries up to life in prison without parole and even sentenced to death. This raises a question on how truly effective treating juveniles as adults are to the young offenders. As the crimes committed by juveniles increase, there has been an outcry from the public and affected to prosecute juveniles accused of serious crimes as adults. It is true that juveniles do
No, I think juveniles should not be treated as an adult. My reason for juveniles should because they sometime do not know right from wrong. The reason they do wrong is because of the parents or adults in their live. The age I think that juveniles should be treated as an adult is ages of 16-18 because they should know right from wrong. If anything, high or middle school should be a good place to start teaching the law to “young adults”. This can teach them right from wrong. At that age the individual ought to know appropriate from wrong in these sorts of cases. If the wrongdoing is being done to damage somebody and have full control over their musings and activities, accordingly they ought to be charged for that. On the off chance that the adolescent
A teenager experiences an up and down routine in life. Half of the teenage population experiences stop at the down part of the routine and it continues from there. Some of these unfortunate teenagers have gone down the wrong path such as ditching school, getting involved with the wrong crowd or have committed crimes at such a young age. Believe it or not, but a majority of these teenagers are charged as an adult for their crime. Is this fair? To be charged as an adult when the person who committed the crime is under the age of eighteen? Usually, people focus on the crime instead of feeling bad for the teenagers or seeking a way to reduce their punishment since they are young. Teenagers deserve freedom, justice, and the privileged of options in life so they still have the ability to have hope.