The article, “The Steep Costs of Keeping Juveniles in Adult Prisons” written by Jessica Lahey states, “Juveniles constitute 1,200 of the 1.5 million people housed in federal and state prisons in this country, and nearly 200,000 youth enter the adult criminal-justice system each year, most for non-violent crimes.” Minors should not be tried as adults because their brains are not developed, they may come from bad backgrounds, and they have their whole life ahead of them, and their life should not be determined by the mistakes they made as a child. Juveniles who are usually 14 or older who have committed serious crimes are tried as adults and are put into adult-state prisons. This is inhumane and unsafe for the child’s physical and mental health. One of the many reasons that minors should not be tried as adults is because their brains are not fully developed, so they cannot make good decisions until they are older, far into their twenties.
Some might agree that, “The juvenile justice system is failing to protect citizens from the surge in violent crimes committed by juveniles. What is needed is a system that protects society from violent juvenile offenders, and efficiently rehabilitates juveniles." (G Garcett) The threat of this harsher punishment will result in lowered juvenile crime rates. Juveniles should be convicted as adults for violent crimes because it is not fair for juveniles to commit big crimes and get away with it so easily.
In British Columbia, the juvenile justice system accepts offenders ages 12 and 18 because this system believes that since their brain is not fully developed, there is a good chance that they can learn from their mistakes and gain more awareness about the consequences and how they can affect you in the long term. In certain cases, if the crime committed is very serious, the judge can decide whether or not they should be tried as an adult, even if still a minor. For example, in this book the judge wanted Richard tried as an adult since Sasha was left in horrendous conditions. This example should have been laid out in a different way, no minor should be put in adult confinement no matter the crime since adult confinements are much more intense and violent than juvenile confinements. Teenagers and youth should not be introduced to the violence held in these confinements since it can create new bad habits that can more so affect their life and make it worse whether then rehabilitation which is the main focus in juveniles.
They should be tried by the adult courts, which were designed to deal with those crimes. Placing juveniles, along with everybody else, no matter the age, in adult circumstances is necessary. As a closing, criminals are criminals, no matter a juvenile. Crimes are crimes and should be punished as
The juvenile system is a ¨far cry¨ from justice (Estudillo). There have been many cases where minors are getting away with crimes that if they were tried as adults then they would pay the consequences for their crime. No amount of rehabilitation will help the minors, they will continue to do crimes as soon as they get out of the juvenile system. People should be worried about this issue because people of this world cannot let crimes go without the proper punishment. The victim's family will feel that they were treated the way that they should have been.
According to “Kids in Prison” by Brian Hansen, juveniles are being tried as adults for violent and non-violent crimes. Kids being tried as adult is the most controversial topic the world cannot agree on today. It is hard to pick one side due to every case being a different situation, but I think I have established a well-thought opinion. Children should not be tried as adults due to their level of cognitive capability, proneness to harm in adult prisons, and their inability to be rehabilitated in a harmful environment. First, a child’s cognitive thinking is at a different level than an adult’s, so a child does not have the means to survive in an adult prison.
1. Do children/juvenile have the capacity to understand the consequences of their crimes? Are the children/ juveniles able to be rehabilitated? Answer: Juveniles are between the ages of fifteen years and seventeen years of age. So, no they should not be tried as an adult because they are not eighteen years of age.
The juvenile criminals are not fit to be a part of society the moment they decide to kill or severely hurt someone. They have no regard for human life and therefore, they should be locked up or given the death penalty depending on the severity of their
Juveniles should be tried as adults with life without parole but only in certain cases: depending on their motive or modus operandi, their crime, and criminal background. Motivation Scandalous kids who commit crimes for unreasonable motives should most definitely have life without the possibility of parole. In some cases, they’re just doing what they think is best. Jacob Ind, a 15 year old from Colorado, was beaten and sexually molested by his step father. His mother abused him as well.
There are certain instances of juveniles being tried as adults and sometimes ending up getting a life sentence without a chance of parole. I find that pretty harsh because there have been some cases where the juvenile meant no harm, they were either confused or brought along by gang members and they end up being charged along with the gang members for just being with them when a crime goes down. I believe that juveniles do not deserve to be given a life sentence because for one they are still maturing, they can learn from their mistakes and make amends, we still have to combat crimes like intended murder committed by a juvenile with extreme punishments especially if they are well over the age of 16. In the article published by the New York Times on March 14, 2012 “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences”, Garinger discusses that juveniles deserve a second chance since their brains are still developing.
A writer for The Economist by the name of Estudillo Mary Onelia had a very strong opinion on this topic. Onella stated, “Trying minors as adults will toughen the system and hold someone responsible. Minors must be fully culpable for their behavior if we are to deter future delinquents from committing violent crimes,” however; this is not the case. Placing a juvenile in prison is not teaching them how to be lawful adults it is locking them up in a building where they are exposed to older criminals whom will not set them on a successful
In the juvenile system teens would receive numerous amounts of help, to help them mature and hopefully get them released when they turn 18. Teenagers 18 and younger accused of violent crimes should not be tried and sentenced as adults because
It is well known that teenagers are generally reckless and incompetent. When it comes to violent crimes, when should a teenager be tried as an adult? When a person turns eighteen, they are considered an adult and face the same responsibilities and consequences. They must be able to make their own decisions. Minors accused of violent crimes should not be tried and sentenced as adults due to their childlike behavior and instead should be remanded in juvenile hall until they reach the age of eighteen.
Imagine that you are 17 and assaulted or killed a person by accident. They have found you guilty and decided to put you in an adult institution with level 4 maximum security, which is very violent. How would you feel? This has happened to juveniles before, they were tried as adults and some sent to life in prison. Juveniles should be rehabilitated and given a second chance instead of being tried as an adult and placed in jail or sentenced to death because a kid’s brain has not yet fully developed and it could help make them a better person.
they are far more able than adults to learn new skills, find new values, and re embark on a better, law-abiding life” (“Minors Are Not…”). Juveniles can rehabilitate from their mistakes and change their lives. They may need a little help to change, but the help and resource they need are not found in prisons. Sentencing juveniles as adults causes them to lose hope in their future. It makes these teens feel as though they can never accomplish anything in the future because of their one mistake; however, that is far from the truth.
