Should Juvenile Criminals Be Tried In Adult Court?

Juveniles are being treated as adults when it comes to crimes, and are receiving higher sentences than adults. Furthermore, juveniles do not fully understand the consequences of their actions. Juvenile’s brains are not fully developed and experience loss in gray matter. According to the article Startling Find on Teenage Brains by Paul Thompson, he states, “gray matter, which brain researchers believe supports all of our thinking and emotions, is purged at a rate of 1 percent to 2 percent a year during this period” (Thompson). Gray matter makes up of people’s critical thinking and awareness. Juveniles are losing gray matter and are therefore forgetting the consequences of their actions. In addition, juveniles are coddled way too much by their parents and grow up without any discipline. Why is it that juveniles are segregated from adults in society in every aspect except when it comes to crimes? Juveniles do not deserve to be tried as adults when they commit heinous crimes because it is not constitutionally correct and

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.

In today's society, there are many crimes going on. Adults are not the only ones that commit crimes. One issue today is that juvenile offenses and whether juvenile offenders should be tried as adults in criminal court. A common phrase that is often used in this case of young juveniles committing crimes is "Old enough to do the crime, old enough to do the time." This phrase should be cleared to people that juveniles are not adults, and with this being said it will not make them one. "It has redefined juvenile offenses by treating most of them as delinquent acts to be adjudicated within a separate juvenile justice system that is theoretically designed to recognize the special needs and immature status of young people and emphasize rehabilitation over punishment" (Steinberg). While juveniles should be responsible for their actions, and should be held accountable for the crime, then the juvenile justice system is design to determine the consequences. Youths are still minors and are less mature. They often face a lot of negative peer pressure. Therefore, juveniles should not be tried in courts as adults.

Should a teenager that murdered his entire family go to prison? How about a kid who rapes his sister and her best friend? Criminal defendants under the age of 18 are sent to juvenile court. In this court, you will not be tried in front of a jury. Instead, the judge will look at the evidence presented and decide on whether or not you have commited the crime.

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.

Sara Kruzan was sixteen years old when she shot and killed thirty-six year old George Gilbert Howard (Sara). She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in adult prison without the possibility of parole. Sara was the victim of sex trafficking and George Gilbert Howard was her long time pimp and sexual abuser. However, this information was not taken into consideration when her fate was decided. Sara, just like hundreds of other juveniles, was unfairly sentenced to adult prison. Her horrific story shows how the Department of Justice has failed juveniles time and time again. The United States Department of Justice has failed to acknowledge extensive scientific research that proves the distinct psychological differences between juvenile and adult minds

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

Over the last few decades there have been more and more violent crimes committed by children and young adults. Some of these children are under the age of 15, committing violent crimes such as robbery, rape, murder, gang violence. Some of these children are being tried as adults while others are tried and punished as juveniles. A juvenile offender may receive a slap on the wrist being sentenced to house arrest or parole while others are being sent to adult prisons without the possibility of parole. An adult committing these same crimes would receive a more sever sentenced.

For years may people have debated whether or not juveniles should be tried as adults for serious crimes. The juvenile justice system was established in the year 1899(Long). Laws were first created to handle small cases such as truancy, shoplifting, and vandalism (Estudillo). Since 1993, at least 43 states have passed laws making it easier for children to be tried as adults (Estudillo). Juveniles should be tried as adults because by the time they’re about 12 they know that murder is wrong, if they’re grown up enough to kill someone then they’re old enough for adult consequences, and a lot of kids see the juvenile justice system as a way to get away with crime.

If we do not try juveniles in adult court for serious crimes, what is the alternative? We need to have a building just for juveniles tried as adults. If juveniles who commit serious crimes do not get tried in adult court they won't completely understand the consequences of their actions. Juveniles should be punished like adults are for serious crimes.

Despite their young age, many states continue to try teenagers as adults, often resulting in harsher adult penalties than youth processed in the juvenile system. As teenagers are still in the process of developing into an adulthood and are still learning about what they want to do with their lives, they deserve to be tried as teenagers and not adults. Although the crimes that teenagers commit can be just as bad as those of adults. Juveniles should not be tried as adults because their brains are not fully developed, most have mental disabilities and mental illnesses, the punishment is dangerous and traumatizing for the juvenile, and there is an age restriction that protects them from being tried as an adult.

Have you ever thought about how severe juvenile crimes are and how they should be tried? Some juveniles commit crimes that are so bad that they could be tried as an adult. But, should they be tried as an adult depending on how bad the crime is?

According to statistics, juveniles being tried as adults is not a new phenomenon. Since the beginning of the juvenile court, juveniles have been eligible to be tried as adults for the commission of capital crimes. However, starting in the 1960s and 1970s and mounting in the 1980s and 1990s, there has been an extensive upsurge in the number of juveniles tried as adults as well as a rise in research on the topic. This increase has coincided with the proliferation of laws that cover and dictate

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.

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)