Should Juveniles Be Treated As Adults?

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.

Supreme Court ruling Graham v. Florida (2010) banned the use of life without parole for juveniles who committed non-homicide crimes, and Roper v. Simmons (2005) abolished the use of the death penalty for juvenile offenders. They both argued that these sentences violated the 8th Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. While these landmark cases made great strides for the rights of minors passing through the criminal justice system, they are just the first steps in creating a juvenile justice system that takes into consideration the vast differences between adolescents and adults. Using sociological (Butler, 2010) and legal (Harvard Law Review, 2010) documents, this essay will explicate why the next such step to be taken is

Whether Brandon Moore should be sentenced for life due to crimes he committed at age of fifteen, or receive a chance to parole.

In the court of law many difficult decisions are made, and one is whether juveniles should be tried as adults or not. Many teens today are being placed in an adult prison for crimes they have committed. The crimes these teens commit are not necessarily their fault, but a poor choice they made. Teens should not be tried as adults for the risk of being sexually abused, not having a well developed brain, and having a higher risk of them committing suicide.

Natalie White English II Research paper March 22, 2016 Trying Juveniles as Adults Trying juveniles as adults is a highly debated topic. Some people think juveniles should be tried as adults, while others think they should not. They think if adolescents are able to commit the crime, they should be able to serve the time for it. There are things that teens can not handle in adult prison. Juveniles should not be tried as adults because they are not yet adults, they do not get the chance of rehabilitation if they are sent to prison, and prison it too harsh.

“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

It is not uncommon for some juveniles to be housed in adult detention centers, however, do you believe juveniles should be housed with adults in prisons and jails? No, I absolutely do not believe that juveniles should be housed with adults in prison and jails. Consequently, I feel that this type of injunction can cause many risk factors including academic diminution, and cause mental risk factors as well. Nevertheless, housing juveniles with adults can cause not only mental risk factors but physical and sexual assault risk factors also. According to the read section in unit four” the crowding, violence, and exploitative relationships found in adult prisons make this disposition extremely questionable, furthermore, although some states have

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

Yes, juveniles deserve life sentences in jail if they decide to commit a violent crime. This is because there is no effective deterrent to force them to think twice. Over the course of time, this has resulted in even more juveniles being arrested for these activities. Evidence of this can be seen with figures provided by the Center for Disease Control. ("Youth Violence," 2010)

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

Juvenile Delinquents being charged and tried as adults Could you imagine your child being thrown into a jail with many older adults who have committed harsh crimes? Many of the nations debates are whether juveniles should be tried and charged as an adult. Like every debate there’s two sides to the story. In many cases there has been young children being charged as an adult to life in prison. With taking in account to brain development and the reasoning to what they did, many would argue that it was an unfair decision to make.

Teenagers in today’s society are getting tried and sentenced as an adult for committing a crime. Many people say that it is wrong to try them as an adult, but others say differently. Being a teenager in today’s society if I were to commit a crime I feel that I should not get tried as an adult. Trying teens as an adult is wrong for many reasons they would be living their entire lives within a cell block, by locking a teen up without teaching them they aren’t gonna learn anything, and finally teens brains aren’t fully developed to the point of rationalism. Students/Teens make many mistakes while growing up, by punishing them to life in prison they won’t be able to learn anything from what they did wrong.

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.

Should juvenile offenders be considered a source of fear and subjected to incarceration in adult prisons or a part of society worthy of being rehabilitated? Juvenile delinquents are feared by many today. They are revered as violent, superpredators, a generation lost without a cause and without ethics or morals. Some may say that it becomes an act in futility to try to find a solution to the increased crime rate when it comes to juvenile offenders. In an effort to find a solution, any solution, the criminal justice system has reformed to housing juveniles with adult, hardened criminals. This act produced juveniles who in turn become hardened criminals. In the writing, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Thomas Paus (2005) states:

Teens who commit crimes shouldn’t be charged as adults. It also has to do with the crime, if a teen breaks into a car he/she shouldn’t be charged as adults they should be charged as juvenile. Kids will be kids they will make mistakes but doesn't mean they should have their life taken from them. In the article (Kids are kids-Until they commit crimes) says “It’s a glaring inconsistency that’s getting more glaring by the hour as children as young as twelve and thirteen are being charged as adults in America’s courts.” young teens are getting their life taken away from them, they haven’t learned right from wrong if the court system just gives them life.