Should People Less Than Eighteen Years Old (Minors/Juveniles/Adolescents) Ever Be Tried and Sentenced 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.

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.

Today’s heated debate regarding the decision to try juveniles as adults has prompted individuals to construct opinionated and informational articles on the topic. The nation’s troubled youth are protected by groups that believe these offenders deserve rehabilitation and a chance to develop into a productive member of society. However, others believe that those committing certain heinous crimes should be tried as adults as a means to protect public safety, prevent second offenders, and “dispense justice in the form of punishment” (Aliprandini & Michael, 2016). Because these perspectives offer a reasonable and valid argument, juveniles responsible for major crimes

Approximately two million adolescents a year are arrested and out of that two million, 60,000 of them are incarcerated according to the American Journal of Public Health. The 60,000 incarcerated adolescents each year are being tried as adults in court because of the serious crimes they have committed. The crimes they have committed are anything from armed robbery to murder. Some juveniles might be first time offenders and others might be repeat offenders. Crimes have always been a major issue in the United States and can cause controversy in the criminal justice system. Charging a minor as an adult in criminal court varies from state to state based on each state’s jurisdiction. Some states consider anyone up to the age of 18 still a juvenile and would not be charged as an adult in criminal court, but other states may charge a juvenile as an adult at the age of 16 or 17. Jordan (2014) states, “Although states already had methods for transferring youth to the adult system, as a result of the growing fear of juvenile violence, most states implemented new laws to increase the number of youth entering the adult criminal system’ (Bernard & Kurlychek, 2010; Torbet et al., 1996)” (p. 315). While it sounds beneficial to incarcerate more adolescents in the adult criminal justice system to avoid juveniles from committing crimes in the future, that is not always the case. Incarcerating these juveniles can be life changing in a negative

Juveniles should be tried as adults because they only serve a few years in prison for doing harsh things. Manuel Sanchez and John Duncan committed a bloody murder by shooting a man several times in the chest, and John and Manuel were only twelve years old at the time. For example, “ It was a brutal, callous, bloody murder. But what is even more shocking to people in the small Washington town of Wenatchee is that John Duncan and Manuel Sanchez are only twelve years old.” I found this information in the article “ Rethinking Juvenile Justice” ( John, 1). Instead of the boys

Juveniles should not be tried as adults when they commit serious crimes,

I believe adolescents should be tried as adult because from a young age humans know the difference between right or wrong. There have been many instances all over the world where juveniles commit crimes that are unexplainable and unexpected. 3 heart wrenching stories where juveniles commit the most horrid of crimes, are in the last 5 years a 10 year old boy was accused of fatally stabbing his 6th grade neighbor. While in the UK Daniel Bartlam is charged for killing his mother at the age of 14, and lastly, in the USA, an 11 year old boy is charged for killing his father's fiancee while she was pregnant. These are some example of why juveniles should be tried as adults, because if they are old enough to commit these murders they are old enough to face the full force of the justice system.

It is being argued if youths should be charged as adults throughout a heinous crime. It is said that kids brain development hasn’t fully grown to it’s full potential such as adults and by that they don’t know from right and wrong. Also, another argument brought up was the age of teens being prosecuted in adult courts. But if you do the crime, shouldn’t you do the time? From my point of view, teens should be prosecuted in the adult justice system.

Every juvenile who commits a severe crime should be tried as an adult. Juveniles should understand the differences in between both good and bad. Most kids that are 15 and older are the ones committing the worse crimes, by that age they should understand the differences in between both good and bad. Every person in the world should be able to think before they do, being able to think before you do will help you understand what you're doing and help you understand the difference in between both the good and the bad. The parents of the juveniles should also understand that some crimes are severe and have severe punishments. Juveniles need to know that

In the court case of every minor, a judge must decide whether or not the minor should be tried as an adult or as a minor, but should this even be an option? James Backstrom argues that minors should be tried as adults to prove that violence in our society will not be tolerated, no matter the age of the perpetrator. However, in my opinion, children are immature, held hostage in toxic environments, and minors are treated differently in other aspects, so it should stay that way when it comes to breaking the law.

As more minors are committing violent crimes, the question of whether they should be tried as adults has arisen. Children as young as 13 or 14 are committing violent crimes such as murder, rape, and armed robbery. Some of these children are being tried as adults while others are being tried as juveniles and receiving milder punishments. A juvenile offender may receive a few years in a juvenile detention facility and possibly probation following his release at age eighteen. An adult committing the same violent crime will receive a much harsher penalty, often years in jail, possibly a life sentence, with little or no chance of parole. The only difference between the two offenders is the age at which they committed the crime. Juveniles over

Kids seem to be growing up earlier as the years go by. Serious crimes committed by juveniles have stayed pretty much the same in the last twenty years, but that is not to say people have not concluded differently. A thanks to laws passed in the ninety’s and more specifically between ninety two and ninety seven, It is easier to try juveniles as adults in the court system. There are multiple pros and cons to juveniles being tried as adult. These arguments range from a crime is a crime to they are not mentally developed enough to understand completely. These are just a couple of the things to consider when asking if a juvenile should be tried as an adult.

Should juveniles get adult jail sentences? In today's society juvenile offenders are facing the law to full force, in two court systems. Not only are they tried in the juvenile justice system, but also charged as adults. The issue of charging juveniles as adults has stirred various views owing to the violent crimes committed by the young offenders. Politicians comment that the best solution is to lock up juvenile offenders for a long time and ignore rehabilitation. However, prior researches on the topic of juvenile delinquencies suggest that trying young offenders in the adult legal system and putting them in adult prisons will only lead to increased crime, higher costs, and increased violence(John & Jiangmin 568).

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.

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).