Should Juvenile Criminals Be Allowed To Reduce Crime?

In the article “On Punishment and Teen Killers” by Jennifer Jenkins asserts that teens are becoming more violent and starting commit more crimes because of the national television they watch.Jenkins tells the reader about “JLWOP” (Juvenile Life Without Parole) and how kids are being sentenced to life in prison without parole.Some people are trying to advocate to minimize the offender culpability because of their age.While kids are getting sentenced to life without parole, this disproves juvenile advocates reliance on the undeveloped brain.Some juvenile offenders truly understand what the victim family go through and how long it takes them to recover.There were millions of dollars spent to end JLWOP and to set convicted murderers free.

The problems inherent in this shift in focus are now coming to a head as youth violence has reached crisis proportions. In recent years, with juveniles increasingly responsible for major and violent crimes, public sentiment in

Considering the behaviors of an adolescent in the same manner as that of an adult is unfair. Juvenile brains are still developing, which means that they perform differently than adult brains (AACAP). Adolescents are more likely to act on impulse, get involved in fights, and engage in risky or dangerous behavior. They are less likely to think before they act or consider the consequences of their actions (AACAP). Weighing this scientific fact, it is unfair to assume that a juvenile committed a delinquent act with the same forethought of an adult. The mental development of a juvenile makes it difficult to prove that they established the mens rea equal to that of an adult guilty of the same offense.

Society views minors as immature and naïve. Until they reach adulthood, they are incapable of thinking through their decisions. This is certainly what Greg Krikorian believes as he makes his argument in his article, “Many Kids Called Unfit for Adult Trial…”, that minors are incapable of defending themselves during trial. Krikorian states, “The study… found that one-third of the eleven- to – thirteen year olds studied and 20 percent of those fourteen to fifteen years old had levels of reasoning comparable to those of mentally ill adults judged not competent to stand trial.” It is important to remember that these teens are not mentally ill, and 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.

“There were three men who hurt me on the first night. They touched me and made me do things…. They came back the next night and hurt me a lot…. There were so many last night. I don’t know how many there were, but they hurt me . . . .” Charlie, a 14 year old boy, confessed reluctantly to Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer and social activist. Charlie was considered a “good kid”, until he shot his mother’s abusive boyfriend, George, a local police officer. After that, he was placed in adult jail. ("How America’s Justice System Failed Our Children"). Although what Charlie did was ruled second-degree murder, what he had to face, and will continue to face from the trauma, from adult jail is arguably worse. This tragedy continues to be the harsh reality of juveniles sent to adult jail. Each year 200,000 youths are tried as adults (Rozzell). Juveniles are put in stressful situations and without the role models they need, they make one poor choice that destroys the rest of their life. Some are held in adult jail awaiting their trial, many of whom committed nonviolent offenses. These incarcerated juveniles, who do not even have a fully developed brain, have their current and future lives destroyed by being tried and held as adults.

Juveniles committing crimes, being arrested and going to jails and prisons, is a sad fact that has hit every city, in every state in the United States of America. It is not a hard thing to comprehend, turn on the TV and watch the news. Every night there is surely to be a report about a crime committed by one of America’s youth. Many people question the reason for such high numbers of juveniles committing crimes; others turn a blind eye and refuse to acknowledge the fact that every day more children of this country are slipping into the life of crime. Some concerned members of society ask what can be done to stop it; how can they help? The answer is action! Law enforcement, as well as Local, State, and

“Uniformly in our communities, more and more young people are engaging in more and more dangerous and serious behavior. And I see as a result of that, more prosecutors and the citizens generally seem to be exerting more pressure to charge these youths as adults, as opposed to having them processed through the juvenile justice system,” Juvenile Judge Elizabeth Crnkovich

Many adults come up with many reasons why youth involve themselves with acts of violence, there is never an actual answer to why they committed the crime, but the question of why they are being tried as an adult. Vicious misconduct is well-defined by the Division of Juvenile Justice as “murder, rape, severe attacks, and theft. These are all actions that sound terrible and cause for harsh consequences. Unluckily, there is an increasing development of adolescent violence; even “kids” under the age of sixteen are engaging in these vicious acts. When a child comes of age, they advance to being able to enjoy but not abuse adult liberties. Adolescents attain a

People commit outrageous crimes that are beyond our perception of your typical, average murderer. Take it from Marjie Lundstrom, who in her article, “Kids are Kids- Until They Commit Crimes,” stated that a fifteen year old in Yuba City copied a tv show about little girls who robbed a bank was given 26 years to life in prison. Juveniles who commit crimes are vulnerable to various factors like peer pressure and parents or friend influences, therefore, they have trouble to change for the better (Jenkins). Juveniles deserve to have a chance to show that they are capable of change, therefore, they should not be sentenced to life in prison. Gail Garinger in her article, “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences,” asserts that the brains of young people are biologically different than the adults’.

If a fourteen-year old child murders another person should they be tried in an adult court with the possibility of a life in prison without parole? According to a Gallup Poll conducted in 2003, 59% of people surveyed that they support harsher sentences for serious crimes committed by a minor. The juvenile courts can be traced back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a way to prevent the children of a growing immigrant population from falling victim to a life of crime. Despite the original intentions of the juvenile system, the recidivism rate for minors continues to rise at an alarming rate meaning that convicted youth are trapped in a viscous cycle of incarceration that never allows them to grow and prosper. This paper discusses the foundation and intention of the juvenile court system as well as focusing on three issue areas that are complicating the court system: the advancement of neurological studies such as Laurence Steinberg’s, A Social Neuroscience Perspective on Adolescent Risk-Taking, a lack of proper education and resources necessary to teach the incarcerated youth causing them to fall behind those who have attended a normal school, and an ineffective or complete lack of a rehabilitation plan for convicted juveniles. Finally, this paper discusses the Supreme Court case of Miller v. Alabama (2012) that rendered a 5-4 decision that declared charging a minor life in prison without parole unconstitutional.

Good Morning, I’m Emma Mallory and this is my correspondent, Marlee McCormick. We are unflinchingly in favor of the resolved topic that, “In the United States, juveniles charged with violent felonies ought to be treated as adults in the criminal justice system”. Violent felonies are classified as abusive crimes that include, rape or sexual assault, murder, domestic violence, robbery, and kidnapping. We strongly hold our beliefs that this case justifies the value of human safety. Any person no matter who they are deserves to be safe in any situation. If adolescents are not charged appropriately to match the crimes they have committed, this can threaten the safety of others. Overall, it is prerequisite that juveniles that have offended the law by committing violent felonies, face the consequences as adults.

Regardless of age, a killer is a killer. A killer can be the daily customer you have at your job or the child you’re babysitting. “The Supreme Court justices would be wise as well as compassionate to strike a balance: Make juvenile offenders responsible for their actions but don't completely rob them of hope. And this should apply not only to the inmates who were 14 at the time of their crimes but to the remaining 2,497 who were 15 to 18 years old,” (Ellison 19). Kids make mistakes all the time, that doesn’t mean we should take their life away from them. With overlooking the listed factors in court when sentencing a juvenile, this will improve the number of children in prisons. Not all of these children partake in the act because of evil, but merely because of

Many young adolescents who have committed horrendous crimes have been a huge topic amongst the Supreme Court. Whether young adolescents are viewed as innocent, naive children to the public, this not changed the fact they can commit brutal crimes. In spite of the fact that adolescents have committed brutal crimes such as murder, one needs to understand that their brains are not as fully developed as an adult brain would be. Adolescents should not be trialed to a life sentence or attend adult prisons; however, they should be punished for their actions and undergo rehabilitation programs to help them be prepared to fit in with the rest of society.

It may seem shocking that America has one of the highest crime rates per capita compared to other similar industrialized nations. Over the years, there have been many discussions and efforts in order to reduce this problem. Perhaps one of the more sensitive issues when discussing crime in America is the problem of juvenile crime. Recently, juveniles make up 3% of all felonies committed each year and 6% of all violent crimes (criminamerica.net). These statistics have troubled politicians for decades as they have worked to find a solution. Starting in 1994 the Clinton administration started putting stricter punishment on juvenile offenders, but it was quickly realized that this harsh punishment may not be the best solution. Various studies and programs put into action have shown that early prevention in a child’s life is much more effective and more cost efficient in reducing crime. Because of these efforts, juvenile crime has reduced 68% since the violent boom of the 1990s. In light of these discoveries, it is important for states to focus on these results in order to reduce crime.