Summary: The Murder Of James Bulger

With the escalation of murders and rapes committed by minors as seen in recent years the people are looking for the right answer. Public concern over the effectiveness of the juvenile courts when dealing with these offenders has brought about change in the justice system. (Stolba, 2001). The courts now, are quicker to transfer a juveniles’ case to adult court than when the juvenile system was first formed. There stands a conflict of interests within the two court systems. Juvenile courts are to protect the rights of youths determined incapable of adult decisions. The primary concern is that the youth be rehabilitated and not become a repeat offender. Thus, protecting the child from incarceration with adult criminals and any possible future victims. The concerns of the adult court is to make sure the convicted offender pays for their crime and that the victim gets justice. Rehabilitation is not a primary concer of the adult justice system.

James Joseph Bulger Jr. otherwise known as “Whitey” Bulger is an infamous murderer who escaped the police for sixteen years. His only known son died at the age of six. James Bulger has been accounted for nineteen murders whilst he has only to this day been proven of eleven of these murders. Bulger was almost called a mini mafia leader. He led a few people who killed for him. One of the people that Whitey was mostly acquainted with was a man named Kevin Weeks. Kevin Weeks was James’ right hand man James could trust Kevin with his life, and he had to. Whitey Bulger was the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) number one most wanted fugitive for sixteen years. James got the nickname of Whitey as a child because of his white-blond hair color.

conspiracy, and murder. He was the nation’s most wanted fugitives and feared by citizens of the

Sentencing youth offenders has a different criterion then sentencing an adult as the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) has a set of principles and guidelines, which judges must follow. Sentencing is a process where a youth is either found guilty or has pleaded guilty and a judge will decide on an appropriate consequence (Justice Education Society, 2017). The process ensures youth are held accountable for their actions, focusing on a rehabilitative, or reintegrated approach. There are many ways a youth offender can be sentenced. Section 42(2) of the YCJA defines and explains sentencing options for youth offenders.

The criminal justice system approaches young offenders through unique policies to address the challenges of dealing with juvenile offending. They take special care when dealing with juveniles in order to stop them from repeat offending and stop any potential bad behaviour which could result in future. Juveniles have the highest tendency to rehabilitate and most adopt law-abiding lifestyles as they mature. There are several factors influencing juvenile crime including psychological and social pressures unique to juveniles, which may lead to an increase in juvenile’s risks of contact with the criminal justice system.

Without knowing any of the details of this crime, it’s easy to become very upset over the animosity that one would need to feel in order to follow through with the atrocious operation committed by the two boys.

At the close of trial proceedings, the judge informed the jury that they could find the eight accused to be guilty even if the crime was committed by someone who was not charged. He also said that it was not necessary for the state to know the identity of the bomber or to prove that the bomber had read any of the articles or poster of the charged anarchists. Though the judge, prosecutor, and jury can be considered misguided in their bias and actions of injustice, some of the witnesses against the accused are widely acknowledged as liars. In comparison to the eyewitnesses of the defendants, every part of their details went against those of the witnesses of the police.

Particularly due to the age of the killers, the ferociousness of the crime and the age of the victim, the mass media reports allowed the public to get personally and emotionally involved in the case and have severe anger and resentment towards the children who murdered James Bulger. The public outcry was huge and, the decision by the politicians and press

It is almost impossible for justice to be served when the trail was a mess. There was a 12 hour police interrogation of Jessie Misskelley. He is intellectually disabled, causing him to give a false confession. The police should have known the psychology of false confession and shouldn't have interrogated Mr. Misskelley for 12 hours. The sentences were based on hearsay testimony of witnesses who heard the boys talk about the murders: “...the defendant had been motivated as members of a satanic cult” (Robertson 4). Hearsay doesn't prove anything in the court of law. The jury is supposed to know nothing about the case; but of course one juror already had his mind set on his conviction. This juror

On June 9th 1959, a twelve year old girl by the name of Lynne Harper was walking around her neighbourhood until she encountered a young boy from school, Steven Truscott who gave her a bicycle ride home. Once he dropped her off home and went off, she was abducted, two days later her body was found, she had been raped and strangled. By the reason of several witnesses spotting Steven and Lynne together, the Ontario police wrongly convicted him for committing murder. Steven Truscott was a 14 year old boy, who was popular, athletic, he had no behavioral issues and no criminal past. However the Ontario police did not take time to consider the fact that Steven Truscott was just a normal teenage boy, instead they jumped to conclusions and prosecuted

First and foremost, anytime we look at crimes against the innocent and vulnerable people, we tend to be more impacted. Although, most of us claim to be unbiased and believe in equality, we all place different values on different lives. To hear about a gang members being killed in a rival gang shootout, is less impactful as hearing about small children being killed by an Active Shooter in their school. I draw attention to this only to illustrate the emotional impact the Andrea Yates case had on the majority of our population. Cases like this cross a moral threshold that most of us cannot imagine. Be it the love we have for the children in our lives, or our understanding of their innocence. Unfortunately, according to Andrea Yates, it was this very innocence that drove her to kill her five children.

During this period of time, Venables, Thompson, and Bulger, who was in a distressed state, crying as he was dragged through the streets were witnessed by nearly 40 people; all who assumed he was a relative or a lost boy they were taking to the police station.

Currently to deal with juvenile offenders involved in the youth crime, there are two options available. The first option that prevails to a larger extent is known to us as incarceration while the second option that is slowly gaining trends is known to us as rehabilitation programs. This paper focuses on thorough analysis of both these options and the impact that they have on the offenders as well as the society as a whole. The paper also assesses the viability of these options in order to determine which of these will prove to be more effective and beneficial.

criminal that was in the media. In frame five we see a cell door, this

It is a common believe that adolescents require a special system thru which be processed because they are “youth who are in a transitional stage of development…young offenders that are neither innocent children nor mature adults…” (Nelson, 2012). Because juveniles are in a process of constant development sociologically, psychologically and physiologically, the juvenile court system focuses on alternative sentences and the creation of programs that will offer them rehabilitation instead of incarceration. However, in cases of extraordinary circumstances, the juvenile system shifts from looking at rehabilitation as a first choice to accountability and punishment (Read, n.d). All levels of society are collectively involved in delinquency