...Should juveniles who commit first or second- degree murder receive a mandatory sentence of life without parole? That is a question that many people are asking themselves. This is a very debatable question due to the fact that if a juvenile does change, then he/she wouldn't have a chance at a new life because of the life sentence. I believe they should be granted a second chance, but if they take that second chance for granted, then they should be sentenced to life without parole. On the other hand, there has been cases where a teen who was sentenced to life got a second chance, but decided to take it for granted for being immature and emotionally unstable. Many teens make reckless decisions while growing up, some don't know better but others do. Where I stand in this situation is that juveniles should not be sentenced to mandatory life sentences without parole. Not many...
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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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...perpetrators of the crime, and may not have even been present at the time someone was killed. Many juveniles are sentenced to life at a young age for committing crimes that don’t deserve life sentences. They are still young and they make mistakes. With that being said they should be able to have time to grow and rehabilitate to become better. Since they are young their brain isn’t quite fully developed as adults. They deserve a second chance. Most juveniles are peer pressured and are influenced by things that they see and they don’t really know how to get out of the...
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...have taking Kaplan University. I have had the chance to voluntary at Kent County Juvenile Community Service Department. I am going to share with you in this paper what I have learned about the program, describe how it is ran, tell the roles I played, and also give a piece of my mind on the experience that I encounter during my voluntary work. Explanation of the agency’s function After the passing of the passing of the 1996 Public Act 388 the Family Division of the Circuit Court was created. According to the Kent County site under Family Division the legislation required that by July 1, 1997 the probate courts and the circuit courts come to an agreement on how they were going to run the Family Division Courts. The probate courts, circuit court judges, and many more people came up with a great plan because the Supreme Court approved the plan. Michigan has Family Court in each circuit court that hears the cases dealing with every aspect of family law. Judges in the Family Court Division hear case about divorce, which parent get custody of the child(ren), who going to support the child or alimony, and even children who want to get emancipated from their guardian. The Family Court Division also hears cases about children being abused, neglected, and so many more. Michigan Family Courts do not just deal with the things I mention above. This court deals with matters of kids breaking the law. The Family Court gets involves when a child breaks the law. The disposition...
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...Causation and Diversion Paper Juvenile Justice Systems and Processes Tina Sweeny/ University of Phoenix November 23, 2012 There are many programs available in the State of Wisconsin to help prevent juveniles stay on the right path of life, and deter them from a life of crime. For those who do not seem to care about their life or what happens to them and continue to get into trouble there are programs for that as well. This paper is going to talk about two different programs that are available in Wisconsin, one is a diversion program and the other is a prevention program which helps juveniles at all ages and various areas and stages in their lives. 180 Degrees Juvenile Diversion Program: The motto of this diversion program is “Even though you didn’t have a good start….you can still have a great finish”,(180 Juvenile Diversion,2012). This program focuses on changing the way juveniles think, and give them goals to focus on, and throughout the program give them the tools needed to achieve those goals. The age range is 14-20 year old males and females, who have committed a first time crime normally a misdemeanor, or a lower level felony. The program is designed to give a second chance by challenging them to take a close look at their life and the direction...
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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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...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 mercy of those who are in charge, and of each other, and dignity is a scarce commodity. Various issues occur amongst our local prisons which is why the nation's prison system must be changed because of major problems with the system such as overcrowding, unsanitary conditions in prisons and conflicts between rank and file prison officers. This is why this idea of a new prison system was...
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...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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...Second Chances Cold blooded murder is cold blooded murder no matter if a 17 year old commits the crime or a 40 year old. When you are holding someone’s’ life in your hands and deciding how long they should serve in prison for their crime, I would imagine it to be a very difficult situation, especially if the person is under 18. But I also believe that the punishment should fit the crime. The Supreme Court ruled that it violates the 8th amendment for a minor to go to prison for life without the chance for parole. I agree with the Supreme Court’s decision because there are many extenuating circumstances that need to be taken into account, no matter if you are dealing with a minor or an adult. First and foremost murder is murder no matter who commits it, but when you are young and you commit such a heinous crime, I believe that you are mentally unstable. I think that these people should be helped psychologically. This does not mean that they shouldn’t go to prison and that they just get a pat on the back and a referral to a psychologist, this means that they should get a chance for parole if they mature and get mentally stable. The character of a juvenile is not as well formed as that of an adult so that person should get a chance to prove that he or she deserves a second chance. Secondly, juveniles are very easily influenced by peer pressure. They are forced into situations in which they don’t really know what to do, which could force them to act out and do something horrible...
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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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...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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...About Juveniles & Crime” UNIT 1 By: Michelle Lee Class: Juvenile Delinquency What is Juvenile Delinquency? In my opinion, juvenile delinquency is basically young children committing crimes illegally. Also – individuals who are pretty much under the statutory age of majority. Why do you think these children are committing these crimes? I believe these children are committing these crimes because of the following: 1. they may have family problems, example: there is no food to eat in the home, 2. they may not be getting enough attention at home, example: from the parents, 3. bullying from school mates example – not fitting in or getting along with any students. What types of crimes do Juveniles usually commit? These can range from status offenses such as young smoking, to property crimes and violent crimes. What would the percentage rate for young juveniles be? The percentage would rather be high, maybe because of the crime rate, and how many teens are actually committing the crime or crimes. What exactly are the types of offenders that do this? There are two altered types of offenders that arise in puberty. One is the repeat offender, and also as the life-course-persistent offender, who begins offending or showing antisocial/aggressive behavior in youth or even childhood and continues therefore adulthood. What are some risk factors that Juvenile parents should be aware of? Most juvenile parents should have a good idea of the two largest predictors of juvenile delinquency...
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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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...Juvenile Justice and Rehabilitation When discussing rehabilitation or punishment for juvenile delinquents, I believe there should be rehabilitation over punishment. Granted there are numerous cases that completely warrant punishment, but punishment isn’t always the answer. Adults are usually given second, third and fourth chances to change their lives. And sometimes rehabilitation isn’t involved. I believe since adolescents still have plenty of time to get counseling or learn about themselves and why they acted the way they did, there is always an opportunity for them to change. Adolescents don’t have the same thought process as adults. They tend to react emotionally, so if their emotions are flying high, adolescents aren’t always able to stop themselves from doing something foolish or harmful to others. This is also the point in their life when they are becoming curious about how their bodies are changing. Also add in drug or alcohol experimentation and that’s a recipe for trouble. There are numerous supporters for rehabilitation, just like there are individuals against it. As long as there is a juvenile justice system, there will always be a debate. One person that agrees with rehabilitation is Kurt Kumli, a supervising deputy district attorney for the Santa Clara County’s Juvenile Division in California. Mr. Kumli (2001) stated that there are different methods that work on different kids. But the one thing that is constant, is the need to get to the kids “sooner, than...
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...Juvenile Crime Paper Rochelle Gordon CJS/200 December 1, 2012 Dave Ross Juvenile Crime Paper In the juvenile justice system believes in giving a juvenile a second chance, and protects their privacy. They also want to make sure they receive treatment and support services rather than just punishment. The juvenile system focuses more on their needs, and those goals are met with treatment and rehabilitation so they won’t become repeat offenders. After a juvenile completes their program their records can be sealed or destroyed once they reach 18. The juvenile system status in question is to determine delinquency, whether an act of was violated or not. The system also wants to make sure the best interest of the child is taken into consideration, regardless if they are guilty or innocent. For the most part when a child is in custody and pending the hearing, they may be released into the custody of a parent or guardian. Juveniles have closed hearings instead of a trial. The right to a jury does not exist. A juvenile is not arrested; they are taken into custody from an order by the judge or complaint. Usually juveniles are only incarcerated with other youth offenders and in juvenile facilities. In the adult court system the status question for adults is to determine guilt or innocence. The goal for adult proceedings is to determine offender’s guilt or innocence. Pending a trial, an adult can be released through bail, or on their own recognizance. Adult trials are...
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