Teens Should Be Tried As Adults

964 Words4 Pages

The criminal justice system was created in order to punish people who choose to break the law. Some people believe they are above the law and decided to do whatever they like regardless of the consequences. Children and adults are both responsible for the actions they commit. The criminal justice should tried children as adults for committing felonies because a crime is a crime regardless of the age of the individual. This can be fulfilled by punishing juvelives with the correct sentence, by seeing that they know their actions lead to consequence and they have the proper process for a teen to be tried as adult. As people might argue that teens should not be tried as adults because they are only children and they do not realize their actions; …show more content…

They know that by committing an “adult crime” should be punished with adult consequences. As an early age they know that they their actions can lead to a consequence and they need comprehend that they cannot get away with their crime. In the article “Babies Know What’s Fair” by Association for Psychological Science, they have research that babies know the difference of what is fair or unfair- in other words what is right and wrong. At the age of 19-21 months infants start recognizing what is generally fair and can apply to many different situations, according to Psychology graduate Stephanie Sloane (Association for Psychological Science). This can infer that at a young age infants know that when something is wrong or correct in a situation, so when they are older they know that when making a plan to hurt someone is wrong and they know the consequence of their actions. Furthermore, we do not just know when something is wrong or right when we are infants, but also as teens. Teens are impulsive, but they know that their actions can lead to many consequences. In The Atlantic article “Dopamine and Teenage Logic” it further explains what occurs in a teen’s brain. They reveal that with my studies juveniles are aware of the risks of their actions/ behaviors. As teens we do not looking at the negative outcomes, but the emphasize the positive outcomes (Siegel 3). As teens we do know the full risk of our …show more content…

In the document “Because The Consequences Aren’t Minor” by the nonprofit Campaign For Youth Justice, it describes that attorneys fue cases in adult criminal court for minors ages 14 or older. In addition they have a judicial waiver which is known as “fitness hearing” to be able to determine if they are fit or unfit and be tried as an adult ( Campaign For Youth Justice 2 & 3). The judge or attorney do not just simply decide if the juvenile should be tried as an adult, there is a process in which they must commence according to the Proposition 21. This also depends on the severity of the crime. According to the Ohio State Bar Association, the be able to required to trialed as adult you must be convicted of a felony and you need to be under the age of 18 (www.ohiobar.org). There is a requirement in which you can be tried as an adult and one cannot be simply tried as adult. They need to go through the