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Adult Criminal Justice System

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Since the 1890's, Americans have recognized that children who commit crime should be treated differently than adults. That separation has been eroded significantly since the 1980's and 1990's when the violent crime rate was very high. More recently, with neurological evidence of immature capacities of adolescents, we again acknowledge the differences between youth and adult offenders. Perhaps it is time for another period of reform in our juvenile justice system.

When punishing crime there are four goals that can be achieved: retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence, and incapacitation. The modern adult criminal justice system focusses mainly on retribution and incapacitation. As a society, we want to be "tough on crime" so we have all but …show more content…
In the late 1980's, crime rates soared and juvenile programs were proving to be ineffective. We started the "War on Drugs" and "get tough on crime" policies. Gun violence was high. In the early 1990's, theories of juvenile "super-predators" were sensationalized in the media. Policy makers viewed the juvenile justice system as inadequate to handle such dangerous young offenders. Many viewed juvenile punishment as a slap in the wrist and a revolving door. Worse, the juveniles knew that their punishment would be …show more content…
Many states created very broad categories of offenses that permitted, and often mandated, transfer to adult court. The offenses were not limited to violence. Many states allowed any felony to be transferred, included drug crimes and property offenses, leaving the decision to the individual prosecutor. Placing the discretion of how to file the case with the prosecutor made the application of the transfers to adult court highly varied and arbitrary between jurisdictions. As these transfer laws were enacted and reformed, they became broader and more punitive, with several states passing mandatory sentencing statutes, including life without the possibility of parole for youth as young as 15 years old. Transfer laws were being strengthened even as crime rates had already begun to drop. The legislation persists today when juvenile violent crime rates are at an all-time low. In fact, the rates of juvenile cases being transferred into adult court has remained essentially the

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