Should Juveniles be Transferred to Adult Courts? Essay examples

Today, we live in a society faced with many problems, including crime and the fear that it creates. In the modern era, juveniles have become a part of society to be feared, not rehabilitated. The basis of the early juvenile justice system was to rehabilitate and create safe havens for wayward youth. This is not the current philosophy, although the U.S. is one of the few remaining countries to execute juveniles. Presently, our nation is under a presidential administration that strongly advocates the death penalty, including the execution of juveniles. The media and supporters of capital punishment warn of the "superpredator," the juvenile with no fear, remorse, or conscience. Opponents of this view encourage

Finally, I believe that by being rehabilitated the juvenile will have a better chance at life because eventually they will be back in society.

There are times juveniles should not be convicted as adults because sometimes the “crimes” may not harsh enough to be charged as an adult. For example, if a 8 year old saw a gun in their mother's purse and thought it was a toy and grabbed it and began to shoot who would be at fault ? Plus children in adult prisons are 10 times more likely to be taken advantage of in their time. Research shows that children prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system are more likely to reoffend than those held in the juvenile justice

The movement to separate children from adults in the court system can be traced back to English common law, just like most of America’s criminal justice system. English lawyer William Blackstone had a significant influence on the separation of Juvenile and adult courts. Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, that was first published in the late 1760’s, was widely read and well-regarded by the founders of America (History of Juvenile Justice). In Blackstone’s book, he identified individuals who were considered incapable of committing crimes (History of Juvenile Justice). Two requirement needed to be met in order for someone to commit a crime. First, the individual had to have a “vicious will”, or the intent to commit a crime (History of Juvenile Justice). Second, the individual had to commit the crime. Blackstone then when on to state that one group of people who were unable to commit a crime were called “infants” (History of Juvenile Justice). These people where not literality infant or babies, but people too young to understand their actions, and therefore lacked the “vicious will” needed to commit a crime. At

There is no question that if a person is involved in any type of crime they will at some time make their way through the justice system. However, when that person is an adolescent they will go through the juvenile justice system, as an adult would go through the adult justice system. Even though the crimes of each can be of the same manner or hold the same severity the punishment results can differ.

Today, the court system in this country is divided into two groups when comparing juveniles and adults. One is the Adult Criminal Justice System, and the other is the Juvenile Justice System. The terminology can be very different between the two systems. For instance; if an adult is arrested, they will be subject to a bail hearing. If a juvenile is arrested they must go through a detention hearing. Adults have trials which can be decided by a judge or jury. Juveniles go through a fact finding hearing and don’t receive verdicts because they are adjudicated. “They are not found guilty, but delinquent or involved” (Komiscruk). Another difference between the two is that juvenile court rooms are usually closed to the public, which

According to Caldwell (1961) the juvenile justice system is based on the principle that youth are developmentally and fundamentally different from adults. According to Mack (1909) the focus of the juvenile justice system has shifted from “was the crime committed” to “why did the child commit the crime”, “how can we help the child”. When performing as it is designed and up to the initial intentions, the juvenile court balances rehabilitation (treatment) of the offender with suitable sanctions when necessary such as incarceration. According to Griffin (2008) in some cases juveniles may be required to be “transferred” to adult court. In this paper I am going to discuss the three primary mechanisms of waiver to adult court: judicial waiver

In 2007, there were more than 200,000 minors/juveniles that were tried as adults (McCrea). This represents the current problem within the juvenile justice system well. This represents the problem because it shows how our system allows for hundreds of thousands of juveniles to be tried as adults. This is why I believe that juveniles should not be tried as adults. For one, the juveniles are not fully understanding of the consequences that are possible if they break the laws that they do (Redding). Also, while they are able to be tried as an adult in our current juvenile justice system, they are not allowed the rights that come with being an adult (McCrea). Lastly, juveniles are going through changes and putting them in jail can greatly affect them (Ortiz)

NCSL, 2018, www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/juvenile-age-of-jurisdiction-and-transfer-to-adult-court-laws.aspx: Onelia, Mary. “Juveniles Should Be Tried as Adults in Certain Circumstances.” Gale, 2008, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010327214&source=Bookmark&u=dove10524&jsid=74542a3edc6f6527f03cc30ad9e4603e. Juvenile Justice & the Adolescent Brain.” Center for Law, Brain and Behavior, 24 Mar. 2015,

Should Juveniles Age 16 be tried for murder as an adult? In the United States it is popular for many juveniles, mostly around the age of 16 to be tried as an adult for murder. Two assumptions that make this easier for juvenile to be tried as adults, are because they will receive sentences in the adult criminal system. This will make their punishment for crime much harsher and more "proportional" to the crime committed.

In the early nineteenth century juveniles were treated the same as adults when it came to the legal system. We did not have separate courts or jails for juveniles and they would often receive the same punishments as adults that had committed crimes. “At the beginning of the

A deep look into juveniles in adult prisons. Touch bases on several smaller issues that contribute to juveniles being in and effects of adult prisons. The United States Bureau of Prisons handles two hundred and thirty-nine juveniles and their average age is seventeen. Execution of juveniles, The United States is one of only six countries to execute juveniles. There are sixty-eight juveniles sitting on death row for crimes committed as juveniles. Forty-three of those inmates are minorities. People, who are too young to vote, drink alcohol, or drive are held to the same standard of responsibility as adults. In prisons, they argue that the juveniles become targets of older, more hardened criminals. Brian

Kids should be subjected to the measures of punishment that our judicial system is giving to them. Kids who show lots of enmity should be tried as adults. It is the only way to protect the innocent children. These kids know right from wrong, but they choose to do the wrong things and violence is wrong. As the laws have gotten stricter on discipline the kids have gotten wilder. When we let society tell us how to discipline our children then violent children is the result.

Crimes are most associated with adults. Murder is especially most associated with adults. When a teenager commits such a crime such as murder they must be tried, and they should not be treated with leniency and coddling, but with the full force of the law as an adult.

Serious crimes such as murder, burglary and rape have raised questions as to whether the young offenders should face severe punitive treatment or the normal punitive measures in juvenile courts. Many would prefer the juveniles given harsh punishment in order to discourage other young people from engaging in similar activities and to serve as a lesson to these particular offenders. However, results from previous studies indicate such punitive measures were neither successful nor morally acceptable. Instead, the solutions achieved have unfairly treated the youths and compromised the society status (Kristin, page 1).