...Do you think minors are ready to be tried as adults? The fact that child killers see on the news on how to use a gun or shoot that’s how they understand and know how to use it. Many people might think the same because at the end it’s a crime that you should pay. Minors should be tried as Adults because they should know from right or wrong and of course its common sense. Minors should already be tried because they should have known since they were small they knew from right or wrong. To elaborate as a baby you don’t know as much until your parents start telling you the right things and wrong things. For example, if a minor would ever to steal something at a store. Out of the past years 18 years and younger have been arrested for murder, rabe,...
Words: 692 - Pages: 3
...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...
Words: 1503 - Pages: 7
...now involving minors and them being tried as adults. The reason behind my choice involves the number of increased crimes that have been committed by minors. There are many opinions about this very topic both for and against minors being tried as adults. Many on the opposing side of this argument feel as if sentencing in adult courts would be Cruel and Unusual punishment for a minor, which in turn is a violation their eighth amendment right. Recent trends in the increase of rape, murder, gang related crimes, and armed robbery have shown that a significant portion of the people involved are between the ages of 12 and 17. Most of the people in this age group have been repeat offenders calling into question are juvenile court and the punishments having an effect? The answer to this is simple… No. Examining both sides of the argument as well as data will not only show this but also enlighten many...
Words: 743 - Pages: 3
...Juveniles as Adults”. This has brought up a very controversial topic that people seem to be very passionate about. The rate of minors committing horrendous crimes has been on a steady rise for the past couple of decades (DOJ National Report Series Bulletin, 2011). There are many differences between the court system for Juveniles and the justice system for adults. In Juvenile courts there are no juries and no trails by jury either. In adult courts the sentencing is much harsher and the chance of getting off the hook with some counseling is very slim. If a juvenile is defined as a person under the age of 18, how can you justify trying them in a court designed for adult offenders? Some juvenile cases get transferred to adult criminal court through a process called a “waiver”—when a judge waives the protections that juvenile court provides (www.ojjdp.gov). Usually, juvenile cases that are subject to waiver involve more serious crimes, or minors who have been in trouble before (nolo.com/juveniles youth adult criminal court). Being tried as an adult gives a juvenile more constitutional protections, but it also has disadvantages such as losing the juvenile protections as well. Depending on the crime of the minor, both court systems can punish the individual, but which court can give the appropriate punishment or the “crime”, not the age of the person committing the crime? The big question now is should we the courts show more sympathy and compassion for the minor who committed...
Words: 2009 - Pages: 9
...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 court judges such as imposing a curfew or ordering counseling instead of jail time. The juvenile may have to serve time in adult jail or prison, rather than in juvenile detention centers. Adult criminal records are harder to seal than juvenile court records, juvenile records are unavailable...
Words: 705 - Pages: 3
...Minors and Violent Crimes ENG 215 August 27, 2014 Minors and Violent Crimes Juvenile crime has been a national crisis for quite some time. Research from 2010 showed that there were approximately 225 arrests for violent crime offences for every 100,000 youth between the ages of 10 and 17. The violent crimes committed by juveniles has been reported to be at its highest during the after school hours. Research has also shown that approximately 8% of all homicides in the U.S. were committed by juvenile offenders (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention). These alarming statistics prove that minors should be held accountable and be tried as adults in the judicial system. Some may argue that minors have a better chance of being rehabilitated but at the same time minors could become “career criminals”. Steinberg (2001) remarks with the following: Variability among individuals older than 12, but younger than 16, requires that some sort of individualized assessment of an offender's competence to stand trial, blameworthiness, and likely amenability to treatment be made before reaching a transfer decision. The U.S. judicial system should treat minors who commit violent crimes as adults to enforce accountability, to prevent repeat offenders, and to deter others. Factoring Accountability Holding teens accountable for the violent crimes they commit by punishing them as an adult is a social complexity but it is incumbent. Some may view a minor being tried...
Words: 2190 - Pages: 9
...Crime in Juvenile Justice Natasha Yancey Strayer University March 16, 2014 The Age and Time for the Crime The adult criminal system is designed for the prosecution of adults not children. Both state and federal legislative have responded to juvenile crime by focusing on sending more and younger children to adult criminal court. How and where do we draw the line between adults and children? Where do we draw the line between justice and malice? Juveniles that commit crimes should be punished for the crimes that they commit, but they should not be tried as an adult. This paper will offer information on why there needs to be changes in the juvenile justice system, and it will analyze why the increased prosecution of juveniles in adult court is disastrous and nothing but a threatening policy. This policy is unjust, harmful to children and does nothing to increase public safety; consequently punishing adolescents as adults does more harm than good. Thomas J Bernard a professor of criminal justice and sociology at Pennsylvania State University explained how psychologists and sociologists saw young offenders. Bernard’s (2010) book The Cycle of Juvenile Justice recognized that minors are children and not adults. (p. 45) Bernard (2010) further explains that during the 18th century children were tried as adults. Juveniles as young as the age of seven could be tried and sentenced in criminal courts. (Bernard 2010) His research expounds on the Society for the Prevention of Juvenile...
Words: 3422 - Pages: 14
...Minors Tried as Adults Toni Lowery Strayer University ENG 215 February 1, 2015 Minors Tried as Adults The topic chosen for further research is should the minors who commit crime be tried as adults? The topic is interesting and current, and affect our society every day. A fourteen years old commits a crime, depending on the seriousness of the offence, that child should be tried as an adult. People need to be responsible for their actions. Youths who commit crimes is grown enough to do the crime, so they are grown enough to take the responsibility for their actions. It is unfair, not only to adults, but also to society, to be punished for having minors commit crimes and get away with it. If child want to start acting like adults, they should be treated as one. This paper will discuss the fact that minors who commit crimes should be punished the same way as adults. We see on the news how often minors who have committed horrible crimes are given leniency because of their age. The action of the minors today will affect our future, and if our society, schools, courts, justice system allow anyone, no matter of the age to get away with criminal activity, then the same crimes will be repeated over and over again. There are different crimes, a different people and different intention for committing crimes. Minors needed to be protected by laws, changes, and sentenced accordingly, but, also they need to be punished by the same reasons. Before...
Words: 1621 - Pages: 7
...Juveniles being tried as adults Student’s name University affiliation Juveniles being tried as adults Introduction The first juvenile court started in the United States of America in 1899. The two basic principles on which the court juvenile court were founded are one, and juveniles were not mature enough to take responsibility of their actions compared to adults and two, it was easier to rehabilitate juveniles as compared to adult criminals (Grisso & Schwartz, 2000). In more than a century, these principles remained the benchmarks of the juvenile courts as they expanded from Chicago, their original birthplace, into other states and eventually in other parts of the world. However, in the recent year rising incidences of juvenile criminals being tried as adults has increased as it was before the advent of the first juvenile court. Much of this stems from the public outrage against the children who, in high numbers, are engaging in violent crimes. Many countries have adopted legislation that permits them to juveniles to be tried as adults. In some countries, there are provisions that allow prosecutors to try children as young as 14 years under certain circumstances (Grisso & Schwartz, 2000). Juvenile courts establishment aimed at separating the youthful offenders from the adult criminals and thereafter processing and rehabilitating them in forgiving and less punitive manner compared to the adult criminal system (Redding & Fuller, 2004)...
Words: 3034 - Pages: 13
...Research Topics with Explanation Sanjip Kumar Sapkota Strayer University ENG215 Adjunct Professor April 22, 2015 Should the minors who commit violent crimes be tried as adults? This topic is imperative topic to discuss and the audience for this topic can be anyone who thinks minors and adults are mentally and physically same. Minors should not be tried as adults because the physical and mental condition of the minors are different than those of adults. The brain of minors is like raw clay that can easily be shaped into any image. So whatever comes to minors mind is an effect of their surroundings, the social and family impacts. According to the Dorothy Otnow Lewis, professor of psychiatry at New York University: ''Kids are being raised by more and more disturbed parents. And what this lack of parenting breeds is misshapen personalities.'' The mind of adults is different than that of minors. The adults have capacity to distinguish wrong and right. The crimes committed by adults and the same nature of crimes committed by minors have different causes in most cases. So the minors should not be tried as adults. Should DUI (driving under the influence) law be changed? This topic is very important topic to anyone. The DUI law should be stricter than it is right now. According to US Department of Transport vehicles per 1000 of the population in 2013 is, 787.9 highest all around the world. More the numbers of vehicles per people more vehicles on the road and...
Words: 523 - Pages: 3
...At 15 years old you are not able to drink, drive, vote, or even see an R-rated movie by yourself because you are not classified as an adult. If this is the case, why are juveniles tried as adults when they commit a crime? Every year there is an estimated 250,000 youth tried in the United States as an adult. Although no crime should go unpunished, there are many contributing factors that states why a minor shouldn’t be sentenced as an adult. The fact that most adolescents become repeat offenders, they are not able to survive in prison, and the court is basically ruining their lives are just a few examples of why they shouldn’t be tried as an adult. To begin with, 66 percent of the youth in the United States that are sentencved to prison become...
Words: 534 - Pages: 3
...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...
Words: 808 - Pages: 4
...juvenile cases get transferred to adult criminal court through a process called a ‘waiver’—when a judge waives the protections that juvenile court provides” (Kathleen Michon, 2016). Usually, juvenile cases that are subject to waiver involve more serious crimes, or minors who have been in trouble before. Ever since more states have begun trying juveniles as adults in certain situations, the crime rate among juveniles has dropped significantly. Thesis statement: The frequency of juveniles committing horrendous crimes has been on a steady rise for the past couple of decades and even though fewer varieties of punishments, juveniles should be tried as an adult because it would deter and minimize crimes committed by minors and brings justice to the victims. Describe 3 major characteristics of your audience: My intended audience will include my professor and classmates, lawmakers, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and parents. I will try to persuade readers to agree with my stand on juveniles and violent crimes and why I feel so strongly that juveniles should be tried as an adult. I will need the help of the federal and state governments to standardize laws across the board governing juveniles committing violent crimes. I will need the help of prosecutors and lawyers to interpret and provide legal advice on the current laws. “Prosecutors frequently ask juvenile court judges to hold hearings about whether their exclusive jurisdiction may be waived so that minors may be...
Words: 980 - Pages: 4
...for adults and juveniles differs in many significant ways. An adult system is for eighteen and older who have committed a crime. The juvenile system is for young offenders who commit serious crimes. Adult offenders have to get a lawyer in order to meet a judge, and juvenile that is under eighteen needs to have their parents present to meet the judge. There are more crimes committed by juveniles. Some examples are school shootings, and murders. Sometimes kids commit a serious crime and are sent to adult prison. Two young girls who lured another twelve year old girl in to the woods, and stabbed her 19 times to please slender man. The two girls are being charged with first degree intentional attempted homicide. They are likely to be tried as adults and long prison sentences. These girls were only trying to please a fictional character who they thought was real and lived in the woods. They thought if they pleased slender man he would not come after them. The girls did not do this intentionally, they were doing it for their safety. Some people think we should treat them as adults and others think they are still kids whose brains are not yet fully developed. Adult courts tend to be more punishing, while juvenile courts tend to be more rehabilitative. Every state has their own laws and rules they make and follow. Each state is left up to their own devices on what to do. The district attorney has the power to charge a young defendant as an adult. Juveniles are not considered adults, crime...
Words: 1331 - Pages: 6
...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...
Words: 1146 - Pages: 5
