...Should juveniles be tried as adults? Does it depend on the crime committed? If so, what should be the determining factor(s) in deciding to transfer juveniles to adult courts? Case Assignment 4 September 5, 2011 Violent crimes committed by juveniles have fluctuated over the years. The children of today are subjected to violence in popular songs, television shows, and even computer games. Parents’ having guns accessible to children and the society the child lives in all play a part in the destruction of our youth. Juvenile offenders are now facing tougher punishment for their actions. When a child kills, does he instantly become an adult? Or does he maintain some trappings of childhood, despite the gravity of his or her actions? These are the questions plaguing the American legal system today, as the violent acts of juvenile offenders continue to make headlines. The Juvenile correction system is about one hundred years old. It was created in the 1800s on the philosophy that children are inherently different from adults and it is the state’s responsibility to protect and rehabilitate young offenders. Until the inception of the youth justice system, children were tried in criminal courts along with adults. Movement for juvenile justice reform was informed by the 16th century educational reform movement in England that perceived children to be different than miniature adults, with less than fully developed moral and cognitive capacities. As early as 1825, the Society for...
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...court ruling for juvenile sentences depends on the crime that they have committed. More than half of the juveniles that commit horrific crimes are tried as adults today in the supreme court. The supreme court does not let the juveniles off easy, they will try them as adults and give them years sentences, or even life behind bars. In my opinion I do believe that juveniles should be tried as adults but the sentence time should not be life behind bars. The juveniles should be sentenced to some years behind bars, but during this time, they should be able to attend some type of counseling or therapy. There has been multiple crimes that have been committed by juveniles in the past and recent times.On March 9, Lionel Tate was only twelve years old when he killed a six year old little girl doing professional wrestling moves. In my opinion I do not think that Lionel Tate should have gotten the sentence he had gotten. Mr. Tate was tried as an...
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...Juvenile Justice; Don’t Send The Future Away The day I got locked up was a bad day. When I got out i thought it was over not knowing it’s a whole court system I had to go through. I was 16 at the time so I got tried as an adult. I sign my plea for two weeks of probation later. Is the question “are juveniles getting a fair justice?” According to Nicole Scialabba during a single year, an estimated 2.1 million youth under the age of 18 are arrested in the United States. Since the 1980s there has been growing concern about crimes committed by young people. Juveniles should not be tried as adults because young offenders are at risk sent to adult prisons, they are more likely to commit crimes and they lack understanding of the crime they committed. Juveniles should not be tried as adults because they will be sent to an adult prison. An adult prison will have an extremely destructive effect on the juveniles. “Young prisoners are also at a disadvantage because they are not as mature (mentally and physically) as older prisoners (Scott). It is saying that automatically going in a adult prison they are already not safe. Compared to adults they are small. The adult prisoners are physically bigger than juveniles so...
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...the possibility of parole. This sentence would not equal to a life that he took away. I believe that juveniles who commit crime should be charged as adults, they have committed a first or second degree murder and it is the victims families right to believe the convict deserves to pay the sentence. One reason why juveniles should be tried as adults is because the crime they have committed is a serious crime. “Fourteen-year-old Brazil, charged in last May’s shooting of middle-school teacher Grunow, was found guilty of second-degree murder” (Thompson 1). Brazil was a juvenile who committed a murder. This murder was intentional and he had the desire to kill his teacher. “but prosecutors argued that by...
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...Every year there are millions of people committing crimes, but the crimes committed by juveniles gets the most attention from the public. During the recent years, more and more teens get sentenced as an adult. They sent teens from the juveniles’ courts to the adult courts. Their crimes are viewed more harshly and critically, which explain the reason why they are being tried as an adult. Many people gave different kind of opinion on this kind of topic, whether or not teens get tried as adults. There are many articles that address this topic and their claim on this controversial topic. Some of the articles that review this matter are “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentence” by Gail Garinger, “On Punishments and Teen Killers” by Jennifer Jenkins, and “Kids are Kids- Until They Commit Crimes” by Marie Lundstorm. They both have their own opinions and knowledge on this topic. My position in this issue is juveniles don’t deserve to be tried as adults. There has been a relentless amount of fear in the public about juveniles making...
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...these criminals are juveniles who are committing adult crimes. When being tried in the juvenile court system, they are receiving shortened sentences, and they are being released and given new identities to continue to go about their lives but the victims and their families of the crime are left to suffer without having justice served. By changing the way the court system sees juveniles, the United States can change their motives and approach to society. Minors should be tried as adults because everyone has control over their actions unless diagnosed with a mental disability, victims will not receive full justice, and lastly the young adults might not learn from their mistakes. When it comes to trying teens as adults, many say trying them as adults is to cruel and harsh of a punishment but instead to try them as juveniles instead, others say they must be tried as adults after committing an adult crimes. Younger induviduals should be held accountable for their actions and tried as adults. Children almost always know right from wrong even starting at young age. These young adults are usually always taught to talk or consult with...
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...committed by juveniles should not be tried in adult court. Such arguments have been made on the perception that during the time of the crime, the juvenile was not in a position to clearly understand what the crime entailed. Nonetheless, while this might be true according to those that argue in favor of juveniles being tried in juvenile courts, a hidden reality exists that the social issue behind certain crimes are much more complicated than the allegations made pertaining to juvenile courts and certain crimes. When allegations such as “the juvenile was raised knowing that his behavior was acceptable” are being employed to reason for the juvenile being tried in a juvenile court (even when crimes of homicide are committed) then those who commit capital crimes ought to be penalized by the law as written by the law. Under this presumption alone, anyone who commits capital crime is subject to the penalties of the law. This creates the reasons as to why juveniles should be treated as adults in homicide cases. Research findings by Fox, J....
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...When a child commits a crime do they instantly become an adult? Do they continue with the innocuousness of childhood, despite the gravity of his or her actions? Nearly three thousand juveniles have been sentenced to life of imprisonment with no chance of parole (children in prison). Typically without any consideration of their home life, age, or background. This is cruel, wicked, sad, and barbarous. Juveniles should not be tried as adults because, everyone deserves a second chance, the adolescent brain is not fully developed until the age of twenty-five, and children are fixable. Everyone deserves a second chance to make the right decisions and to try become a better person. Juveniles should be given the second chance to reflect on what they have done and not be put in a jail cell. They are just starting their lives, this will affect everything they strive to do. Trying to go to college, get a job, or start a family. A juvenile is a person who is under the age of eighteen, that is not enough time to even know who you are yet, to see your potential. Some of the kids that are being tried as an adult today aren't even old enough to drive, let alone start their high school careers. They are just little kids that have went down the wrong path and need some guidance. It is proven that...
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...First of all, juveniles should not be tried as adults and punished with a sentence to life in prison because of their immaturity and the inability to take up their responsibilities. As Elena Kagan stated, “Mandatory life without parole for a juvenile precludes consideration of his chronological age and its hallmark features.” A juvenile is defined as child or teen at age 18 or younger, who is not yet old enough to be regarded as an adult. Studies show that human’s brain is not fully developed until an age of 25: “In fact, recent research has found that adult and teen brains work differently. Adults think with… the part of the brain that responds to situations with good judgment... Teens process information with the amygdala. This is the emotional...
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...Should people less than eighteen years old (minors/juveniles/adolescents) ever be tried and sentenced as adults? The legislation of trying and sentencing youth criminals under adult justice system has been a hot topic of debate. Supporters of tough laws on insist the need to enforce harsh penalties to uphold justice. The practice of treating youth criminals as adults since the 1990s is a result of the steep rise in youth crimes. However, youth advocates argue that tough laws should not be applied to youth offenders anymore. The core issue of the controversy is whether, because adolescents are biologically and mentally different from adults, they should be treated differently. For minor offenses such as property crime in which nobody is killed, it is understandable that harsh punishments are not necessary. But there need to be tougher penalties for severe crimes that threaten and take others’ lives. Hence, juveniles under eighteen years old who commit violent crimes such as murder and rape should be tried and sentenced as adults in order to punish them for their mistakes, to lower the crime rates and to protect the society. Laurence Steinberg, a psychology professor from Temple University, describes the adolescent brain as “a car with powerful gas pedal and weak brakes” (cited in Hansen, 2010, p.123). This is a good illustration of the fact that humans’ psychosocial abilities do not develop fully before reaching adulthood as cognitive abilities do. A series of experiments studying...
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...Hunter Jenkins K. Turnage English 112 24 January 2015 Abstract Do you believe that juveniles should ever be tried as adults? If so, in what situations and why? That question that was put forth to fifteen different people in a survey. Along with the survey, several articles related to the question were researched This survey and the research on the articles was done in order to gather enough information to present both sides of this issue. The results show that almost all of the fifteen people had very similar responses. The articles that were relative to this question offered very good arguments for both sides. Fourteen of the fifteen people surveyed immediately responded by saying that it all depended on the seriousness of the crime committed. For the more serious crimes such as murder, rape, and any other crime that results in the victim being harmed, it was almost unanimous that yes, the juvenile should be tried as an adult. The results of the survey showed that fourteen out of the fifteen people felt that an individual capable of committing such crimes should be tried as adults. Should Juveniles Ever Be Tried as Adults? There has been much research and discussion regarding this question. There are many people who feel as if juveniles should be tried as adults, and likewise, there are many people who feel that juveniles should be tried only in juvenile courts. It is a question that requires much research in order for somebody to reach an intelligent decision. This...
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...Should Juvenile Offenders Be Tried and Punished As Adult Offenders? Steven W. Eudy Columbia Southern University EH 1020: English Composition II Professor John Willey February 28, 2011 Abstract In America, it seems as though the crime rate grows on a daily basis. While the crime rate continues to grow so does the number of juvenile offenders that are involved in criminal activity. Since late 1980’s, the number of juvenile arrests, has risen steadily and has continued to rise every year since then. With juvenile offenders committing the same crimes as adult offenders, it seems as though the juveniles should be tried and punished to the same extinct as the adult offenders that commit the same crimes. Juvenile courts have been put into place to handle the trials of juveniles and are used for guidance rather than punishment. Juvenile courts were introduced as a method to keep juveniles out of the adult courts until the age of 18, which defines a juvenile as an adult. As the crime rate continues to grow and more juveniles continue to commit adult crimes or serious violent crimes, will the juvenile court system be adequate for juvenile trials and enacting punishment for crimes that are committed by juveniles? Should Juvenile Offenders Be Tried and Punished As Adult Offenders? In law a juvenile is defined as a person who is not old enough to be held responsible for criminal acts. In most states and on the federal level, this age is set at 18 years. For example...
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...Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults Hope Penson Effective Essay Writing/ Com 150 March 28, 2010 Instructor: Brandy W. Kreisler Should Juveniles be tried as Adults? The United States is the world leader in convicting children as adults. Unfortunately once a child is charged as an adult the likelihood of a fair trial is very small. Over the past 30 years there have been changes in many states laws which have led to a dramatic increase in the number of juveniles tried as adults and housed in adult jails and prisons. These get tough laws have made it easier for more and younger juvenile offenders to be prosecuted in criminal court. The purpose of juvenile court is to treat, not deter. Changing the social environment in which juveniles live is a more effective way to reduce juvenile violence than punishing the juvenile offenders in adult courts. The premise of the juvenile court is sound since children have not filly matured, they shouldn’t be held to the same standards of accountability as adults. In some states certain juvenile offenders are automatically tried as adults. Even though juveniles are committing serious crimes at an alarming rate they are not being reformed because juveniles being charged as adults do not comprehend the nature of their crimes. What is America to do? Is charging them as adults reforming them or contributing to the problem once they return to society. The Illinois Juvenile Court...
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...Juvenile Justice Juveniles always tend to be in an awkward situation when it comes to courts and how to punish them. Juveniles have certain rights but they waive those once they commit a serious crime or felony, such as murder or rape. There have been many cases where judges and prosecutors are torn between a child committing a crime and debating whether the juvenile should serve their complete sentence or as much as possible until they turn 18. Although in most states, a juvenile offender must be at least 16 to be able to be tried in adult court a number of states, minors as young as 13 can be tried as an adult. Yet there are few states that allow children of any age to be tried as adults for certain types of crimes, such as homicide. In many cases juveniles and their attorneys fight to keep a case in juvenile court but there are some advantages to being tried in adult criminal court. For example minors have the right to a jury trial in adult court while most states do not provide a right to a jury in juvenile court. Juries in adult court may also be more sympathetic to a minor. Where there are jails which are crowded, the court may be inclined to dispose of the juvenile's case more quickly and impose a lighter sentence. One of the many disadvantages for juveniles in adult court is that the juvenile is subject to more severe sentences, including life sentences. Judges in adult court do not have the wide range of punishment and treatment options that are available to juvenile...
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...1999.” Sadly, these fourteen to seventeen-year-olds are still being categorized as juveniles, and are therefore tried in juvenile courts where they do not get a satisfying punishment. Today society gives these juveniles the right to vote at the age of eighteen; the fact is that when society declares an eighteen-year-old as an adult is such a random standard to determine one’s maturity as far as their crimes go. “We used to deal mostly with kids breaking street lights and now routinely people are seeing rape and robbery” claimed Harry Shorstein, a state attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Jacksonville, FL. (Hunzeker)....
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