Over the course of America's history, they're have been many cases of juveniles committing serious crimes, like murder, and they were only given light punishments like probation, or far worse, being let off the hook. However, there have also been cases in which kids have done very minor crimes, and have been given prison sentences longer than 20 years. This raises the age-old question; should children be tried as adults, and if so, to what degree? People have been asking themselves this question since our judicial system came to be. There have been many debates to this question, but the answer is quite simple. For certain crimes, children should have to face the consequences of their "adult" actions, and should be tried as adults.
If a juvenile
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Whether we want to believe it or not, the lines of boundaries are being blurred for kids. How will they know right from wrong if it is not strictly enforced that serious crimes have serious punishments? In the video, "Should Kids be Tried as Adults?", a team of news reporters discussed the case of the Slender Man stabbings that occurred on Saturday, May 31, 2014 in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Two 13-year-old girls drug their friend of the same age and stabbed her 19 times. While discussing the terrible crime, it was stated that, "The Waukesha county judge felt that juvenile sentences would depreciate the seriousness of the offense. The girls are charged with attempted murder and are both facing up to 45 years in prison (Studio10)." I don't necessarily believe that any juveniles in the northern area around Wisconsin would try to commit any extreme crimes if they were faced with a 45-year prison sentence. Juveniles who commit these unspeakable crimes should be faced with the same harsh punishments as adults because not only will they be paying the price for their actions, they'll be making examples for others. This would potentially make juvenile crime rates go down because kids would not want to spend a majority of their lives in
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.
First, I believe that juveniles should not be tried as adults because their mentalities are not fully developed.
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
“Hey, they’re only kids.That is until they foul up, until they commit crimes, and the bigger the crime the more eager we are to call them adults.”Marjie Lundstrom since they are kids they can't smoke or drink, or go into rated R movies without our consent. So the question has been going around whether or not they should be tried as adults and spend life in prison without parole. I most strongly agree that they should sentence juveniles to life in prison without parole.
The Declaration of Independence States that “we the people are created equally”. Based on that, the question of should juveniles be trial as an adult has risen in the society these children are being tried as adults while others are being tried as juveniles and receiving milder punishments. People hold certain inalienable rights that all human beings, “According to the U.S constitutional, meaning that all humans are naturally free to make our own choices and prosper juvenile offender may receive a few years in a juvenile detention facility and possibly probation following his release at age eighteen”. An adult
Many have discussed and argued if Juveniles should be charged as adults. Then there's others that believe that they shouldn't be charged as adults. However, juveniles should be tried as adults because they committed a crime in which they must pay for which they also knew it is wrong. They should be tried should depend on what age they are and what fractions have they encountered like rape, abuse, etc. If a 5 year old were to be playing with another kid and perhaps that 5 year old kills the child they have absolutely no idea of what they have done they are far too young to understand what they are doing or have done. Most of the time you have to take care of children because they are putting items in their mouth that they don’t know what it
In the so-called “Slender Man stabbing,” two 12-year-old girls told authorities that they had hatched a plot to kill a friend to prove their loyalty to Slender Man, a supernatural character created by an internet user that now features in many media including video games. They attacked the girl, stabbing her nineteen times. Luckily she survived the attack. The girls were charged with attempted murder in the firs degree. Did they really understand what they were doing? Some argue that juveniles in this age range are not able to fully differentiate fact from fiction or understand the consequences of their actions, yet the girls acknowledged that they knew Slender Man was a fantasy. Others argue that premeditated attempted murder is still just as severe regardless of the age of the perpetrators. It is
Many serious crimes are committed daily and some by juveniles under 18. When serious crimes are committed these juveniles get tried as adults and receive adult sentencings. Many people argue that such juveniles should not be tried as adults because they are just kids and are still developing. In my opinion, I agree that juveniles should not be tried as adults, however I also believe they should receive adult sentencings but to a lesser degree, because they are not yet fully developed, they have potential to change, and it is not fair that they are underage but are being tried as adults.
When a person is charged with a crime, many people don't think that the age of said person is important because in their minds a criminal should be charged according to the law and not according to his or age. I believe that juveniles should not be tried as adults because trying them as adults affects them in ways that it does more harm than good for them and their community. The first effect of juveniles being tried as adults is that it “alters the legal process by which a
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.
Should kids be tried and convicted as adults? Right now, kids as young as 8 and 9 years old are being sent to adult prisons for the remainder of their lives.
In addition, think about how they will be affected if tried as an adult and convicted. Let us remember, the United States has the Juvenile Justice System, which is solely for juvenile delinquents. This is supposed to protect them from receiving longer sentences, and harsh punishments, which is the opposite of adult courts. Also, the Juvenile Justice System is supposed to help rehabilitate the juvenile. Luckily, for juveniles, the “court had recognized that even homicide does not warrant a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole if the offender is less than 18 years old at the time of the crime” (Holt p.1395). However, in “Nevada, Mississippi, and Utah, lawmakers now leave it up to the juvenile courts to decide whether to transfer a juvenile to adult court” (Brown p. 21). Unfortunately, juveniles sent to adult prison suffer physically, mentally, and emotionally. With that
Minors should not be tried as adults if accused of serious crimes because their brains are not fully developed, and sometimes kids do not know right from wrong. Some people might argue this statement, but put it this way; when you were nine years old, did you learn about serious crimes and punishments? Most likely not. Children that are young don’t know the consequences to their actions. One reason that children shouldn’t be tried as an adult is that sometimes society gets falsely influenced by movies or games that are only meant for adults.
Juveniles can be tried as adults for crimes ranging from kidnapping, murder, rape, arson, robbery, torture, assault, and more. Some of the cases that are sent to adult court are petty crimes, such as: underage drinking, possession of a controlled substance, and other minor crimes. The question is whether they should be tried as adults. These are all adult actions, on one hand, and may lead a person to wonder what brought a child to commit these crimes. One might further inspect that if a child or teenager is engaged in so-called “adult” activities, what kind of activities might a child choose to be involved in adulthood? What is the child’s background? Can you blame the child of a heroin addict for having access to drugs at a young age? Can you blame the child of a murderer for acting out? Yes, everyone has a choice even a child.
“In 2008, police arrested an estimated 2.1 million persons under the age of 18. The majority of these juveniles (67%) were referred to juvenile court jurisdiction. The police used discretion to handle and release a portion (22%) of these youths” (Lopez 2016). That means that 273,000 juveniles were prosecuted and punished as adults, some even receiving life in prison. This begs the question should juveniles, regardless of offense, be tried as adults?