...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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...different for a juvenile than it is for an adult. Why would it be a different punishment for the same crime between juveniles and adults? Can juveniles really learn from their crime? What if the juveniles make the court believe that they learned from their mistake and they got out of jail and commit the same crime but worse. Is it really cruel and unusual to sentence life without parole to juveniles? Juveniles that commit extremely bad crimes should not be punished; who in their right mind thinks they should not be punished? Is life in prison with or without parole a better option for juveniles? It all comes down to what the juvenile did, and if the juvenile and the adult made the same mistake, they should get the same punishment. It should always be fair between adults and juveniles; there is no difference because they made the same mistake, a crime is a crime. To begin with, can juveniles really learn from their mistakes? Some juveniles can and others can't. Well how will the court make the right decision? For example a juvenile gains trust from the court and gets out of jail early but when they exactly get out of jail they go to a party and kill someone. It is the juveniles responsibility to not get in trouble because they have to be role models for the next generation of juveniles and be the adults. Juveniles can learn from their mistakes but there are always the juveniles that lose the opportunity of being out of jail by committing another crime when out jail. Why do the crime...
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...girl gets hung for being accused of killing a daughter from a prominent white family (hopkins) juveniles have been taking advantage because of the things they are accused of most juveniles do not even know their amendments so they're not protected by them either. Juveniles under the age of eighteen should not be tried as an adult because a prison is not parenting any child, some of the punishments are too harsh, and because of their immature brains. Prison is not a place where juveniles will actually get to learn things like people expect them to. It does not provide help like a parent would. Most juveniles commit crimes because they are probably neglected or do not have a parent role model there for them. Any role model could do so much for an adolescent because they follow the steps of that person. Young offenders often end up isolated from society because of this they choose to do foolish things. The foolish things some end up doing are joining gangs, committing robberies and doing drugs. A prison is not going to help as much with those issues. A gang member still has a connection to the outside world so them changing is a bad bit Unlikely. Prisons can not change juveniles like people think they should. If prisons help so much why are there second offers? Most juvenile offenders become second offenders because...
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...Prison life is mostly a continuous repetition of the same day, over and over again; finding a purpose and a meaning beyond punishment can be a struggle. Often people are not in prison long enough to discover anything worthwhile beyond a new set of criminal alliances. Or in other cases, people end up inside for so long that any good that might have been achieved along the way is weakened by bitterness and resentment. Prisons are the most shaming of all our public institutions, yet, the vast majority of our prisoners do not present a serious threat to life or limb. Their crimes are such that they can be more humanely, economically and effectively dealt with in the community. Nevertheless, many consider imprisonment to be the punishment of choice. They feel that when the offender is jailed, justice is served. The irony of imprisonment lies in society's expectations: the community wants retribution, as well as rehabilitation. Interestingly, for many, sending people to prison is not enough; they insist that offenders must suffer while they are in prison, but only somebody who has never been to prison would believe that jails are soft places. However, the truth is that the harsher a prisoner feels himself to have been treated, the less of an obligation he will feel to abide by society's rules, and the more likely new victims will be created after his release. Prison is designed for disempowerment. Everyone in jail is vulnerable to a greater or lesser extent. Prisoners live at the...
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...Juveniles convicted as adults: Unconstitutional How does placing a child in an adult prison, where they risk sexual abuse that eventually leads to suicide, teach them a lesson? Juveniles, who commit serious crimes, are usually seen as convicts or criminals who should pay the price of what they committed even if that means sentenced as an adult and occasionally with no parole. Some of these juveniles who are being tried as adults suffered from psychological traumas caused at home by their parents or own family members. People need to know what can be done to prevent these crimes. Placing a juvenile in an adult trial is unconstitutional and is abusing their rights. Many of the juveniles prosecuted as adults are placed in adult jails pretrial, where they are at risk of harm, abuse and suicide. People need to understand the importance and dangers of incarcerating a child in an adult correctional facility. The administration of justice should implement meaningful juvenile justice reforms such as, rehabilitation centers, counseling, and they should correspondingly perform psychological test before being prosecuted in an adult trial so the U.S can uphold the dignity and human rights of our children and ensure that no child in our nation is considered a throwaway person. Juvenile crime rates soared in the mid- 1990s, and that is why every state initiated strict laws against juveniles and began incarcerating minors as adults. That high rates of juvenile delinquency dropped quickly...
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...When people think of juveniles they think rude, selfish, and growing up too fast. Now, think of what they say when a juvenile kills an innocent person, let alone if it was their own parent, another teen, or just a random person in the street. They would say that juvenile was raised wrong, heartless, and think they are better than anybody else. What if that teen didn’t know what she or he was doing at the moment of the crime? What if that teen was going through something unbreakable at the time and doesn’t know how to control their emotions or mind. More than 25 percent of people severing life without parole who were convicted of felony murder or accomplice liability as children. In America, there are 10,000 children that are held in adult prisons on any given...
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...Juvenile Justice Essay Juvenile should be try as an adult or not is an issue that had been discussed for a long time. There are arguments and reasons that they should be try or they should not. In the passage that was provided, there are both sides of the issue that the majority think that juvenile should not be in adult prison system but the minority think that they should be. In my opinion, I agree with the majority in the Supreme Court and believe that the juvenile should not be put in adult system even though they have committed a serious crime based on variety of reasons like their age and also about the situation that led them committed crime. From the arguments in the passage, the issue is that whether the juvenile should be put in adult prison or not. The Supreme Court had ruled that juveniles who committed a murder could not be sentenced to life prison because it’s violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. I agree with this idea because juvenile even though can commit a serious...
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...The death penalty and life without parole for a juvenile is one of the most controversial questions in the juvenile justice system today. Should a 13 year old sit and rot in prison for life, with days full of emptiness without a chance to change? The actual definition of capital punishment is the lawful inflictions of death as a punishment. Does life without parole for juveniles constitute to be cruel and unusual to be unconstitutional? Execution is not the right decision for a crime committed by a juvenile or life without parole because most juvenile do not fully mature until their late teens, they have time to change and placing them in prison for life would be a waste rather than a solution. The issue is so important because since the death penalty is out ruled for being unconstitutional, courts are finding a back way which is life without parole for juveniles who are murders. There are currently 79 of these juvenile killers who will die in prison. These 79 juvenile can change their life’s, they can be somebody in the future. But with their sentence they are hopeless; they will just die in prison. We can be using those 79 cells for mass murders or grown adults that have no hope in changing. I find that life without parole is cruel for a juvenile of such young age because they can change. Most time Juveniles may participate in certain remote acts for survival or parenting can play an incredible role in how juveniles make poor decisions, or simply peer pressure can affect...
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... The juvenile criminal system has changed a lot throughout the years. The system then went from trying to help inmates and probationers get their life back on track now to an alarming punitive system. Rehabilitation increases the chances of turning a juvenile's life around rather than punishing them with jail time. Studies have even proven that rehabilitation services for young juveniles have a bigger impact than punishment. This system lacks the nurturing aspect of rehabilitation to help truly good people out of a bad place. It's gotten harder and harder to keep rehabilitation in and out of jails. Most jails don't even have enough professional mental evaluation...
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...Murder has always been a part of life. Although normally when we hear about it , the murderer is an Adult. However for some it becomes a taboo subject to accept that there are Juveniles who commit heinous murder as well. It becomes even more challenging when deciding what consequences the Juvenile will face. It is crucial to understand that there can be many factors that play into a role which might influence the murder the Juvenile has committed. In other words, Juveniles should not be treated as adults and thus possibly given a life sentence . Many elements of the juvenile should be taken into context. Not necessarily age, or gender, but deeper aspects that will determine their consequence . Aside from taking those deeper aspects into...
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...In 1999 a Twelve year old male named Lionel Tate killed a Six year old and convicted first degree murder he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Five years later in 2004 his conviction was overturned and he was released which was a poorly made decision. Only a year later he robbed a pizza man and was sentenced to Thirty years in prison. The courts made the wrong decision to let him out of prison clearly, this source also reflects on how poorly Juvenile detention centers are, and how poorly the juveniles are treated at the centers. If a juvenile is being treated poorly, like being abused by other inmates and the staff not doing anything about it, and living in poor conditions how are they supposed to have a better life when they get out. If Christopher Simmons had the option to go into a juvenile detention center instead of execution, how do the courts know that would've been a better option. I believe Simmons better option would have just been getting executed or putting him in a prison and letting him rot there, especially if he would have made poor decisions in a detention center. Walker 4 Source...
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...As time changes so does the laws for the United States and a critical debate the supreme court has to face. By abolishing mandatory life in prison for juveniles who commit serious degree murder. Now these are reasons why I agree with abolishing this system of juveniles life sentences without parole. I believe these youngadolescents commit crimes because of their environment, the tech/media and the brain not being fully developed. Totally agree with the majority of supreme Court to abolish mandatory life in prison for juveniles who commit murder. The reason why is because many of these young adolescents struggle with life while growing up through their early teenage years. Their actions are what clearly signifies the consequences they commit....
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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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...crimes are no longer being tried as juveniles but are being tried as adults and are getting life in prison. Kids as young as the age of 13 are being given life in prison with no opportunity at a second chance. The court systems are failing to recognize that these juveniles have their whole lives ahead of them.. Juveniles in the United States deserve second chances; they are not old enough or fully developed to know any better. Juveniles in the United States who are sentenced to life in prison still deserve a second chance at life, even if they commit a serious crime. Children in the United States, especially younger kids, are easily influenced by media and what type of home environment they live in because of their age. Kids tend to copy what they see, that means if they see something they should not be doing around them or on media, there is a chance that they will replicate it. The way children learn and behave is drastically different from the way adults do, which is why they should not be tried as adults and get sentenced to life. Children have the potential to change more than adults do. While kids are young they view the world differently. As Garinger mentioned adolescents are “less...
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...Treatment or Punishment what works In our Juvenile Justice System. By Tina Grinnell Juvenile Justice July 20,2013 While prisons can be an eye opener for someone who has committed a serious crime,is it our responsibility to help our juveniles to be reformed or should they pay for their crimes in adult prisons. Putting our juveniles in adult prisons says that we believe they can’t be helped. In most cases are our juveniles really aware of their actions and the consequence that they have. Should they be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.Should the age of a juvenile differ from state to state on the way that they are punished. These are a couple of the issues that surround our juvenile system today. I will be looking at both sides to get a better understanding of why the laws today are the way that they are and could they be changed to help our younger generation. Juvenile delinquent’s have been around for decades and the way that our justice system has tried and helped our juveniles get on the right path and stay there has changed dramatically since the early nineteenth century ,Juvenile matters were handled by a variety of civil courts and non- legal institutions such as Welfare offices. The doctrine was referred to as the parens patriae. Which means parent of the country (Black,1990)...
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