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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.
While the crime committed may be atrocious, adolescents should not be sentenced to life in prison without parole; therefore, they should be given a chance to correct themselves through parole. The
The unfaltering dissension about sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole has yielded opposition in the criminal justice system and dysfunction towards the young lives facing unsettled, extreme punishment for their mitigating crimes. While this particular topic can branch to very detailed discussions in divergent aspects such as: socially, politically, scientifically, and morally, it should be eliminated to only two characteristics: is it fair and is it right? Although it seems painless and facile to act on impulse when punishing juvenile criminals severely, the consequences are ineffective and adverse to the needs of the victims, the development of adolescent offenders, and the primary function of the criminal justice system.
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.
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.
“I, personally, am not willing to send anyone but the worst criminals to jail, because I do not believe in judicial rape. The punishment does not fit the crime”- Ian Welsh (Cognitive Dissonance). Everyday teens are being tried as adults and are going to adult prison with life sentences. Teens who haven't even lived a third of their life yet, are about to spend the rest of their life in prison getting rapped on the daily, are suffering from mental trauma, and being brutally beaten by prison gang members. All this can be avoided if it wasn't so easy for teens to be tried as adults.
Die In Prison The rate in which juveniles have been tried as adults for committing heinous crimes have increased in recent years. In comparison to the same actions being done by adults, it has been controversial with how a young adult should be treated and where his or her future will eventually end up in. The main problem occurring within these individuals is whether they should be given life in prison without parole or have the ability to be given a second chance.
When teen felons choose to act without thinking, they are putting other people’s lives at risk. They need to be charged as adults because the victims of the crimes will not be given the justice they deserve when they have to worry about that criminal harming them again. Although some people think that sending a juvenile through adult court gives them no hope, they should have given this a little thought before committing the crime. Teens need to think about the consequences and how their actions affect others before they act. When choosing between putting a violent adolescent in prison and taking the chance of letting them commit that crime again, it is most suitable to let the teen be tried as an adult and to place them in prison.
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.
This past Thursday we watched in class a video on young offenders who were prosecuted for very serious crimes, this video really brought to my attention the many factors that contribute to young children making life-altering choices like murder or robbery. These children or teenagers, who truly are children, are in the juvenile system and are being faced with the hard truth of adult consequences for their actions. Regardless of the crime that was committed by these young offenders, the various stories we heard from the inmates had many factors that contributed to their reason behind their crimes. However, the prison system is not catering to the needs of the young and protecting their mental health in order to help to properly prepare them for “adult life” after they serve their time.
Juveniles should be tried as adults due to being aware of their crimes and having an intention to kill, however, brain development and maturity can play a role into the reason why teens kill. With being tried as an adult juveniles should be granted the opportunity of freedom pending on their rehabilitation status and if requirements are not met, convicts will have to complete the remainder of their sentence. People have long argued that juveniles who commit a murder should not be tried as an adult due the juvenile not being aware of their crime. Awareness, as defined by the Webster Dictionary, is “the knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists”. Having the perception to comprehend the occurrence of an event is not a dumbfounded characteristic.
When an adolescent is sent to prison he or she will think twice about their crime. Being in prison will make them want to get out and never go in there again, for there is more to life than being beaten down and sexually abused my people who are twice their age. Kids take for granted light punishments so they choose to do whatever they want because they know how to get around the system with a murder or rape charge. After rising most years since 2006, the number of young adults ages 18 to 29 in prison or jail fell by 11 percent between 2008 and 2009, to reach 778,200 (Childrentrends.org). Those results shows that sending juveniles to jail with a tougher sentence can prevent more crimes to continue.
The first reason I want to point out is that once teenagers are sent to prison, they get worst. For instance, in countries such as the US, it has been demonstrated that once children are in jail, they start to develop certain disorders like PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) or ADHD
Juvenile Justice Should juveniles get treated as adults that’s one of the biggest controversy in our nation now days, with many juveniles committing crimes that are inconceivable according to their age. Judges have the last word on how to treat this young people. Many people argue that “the teens that are under eighteen are only kids, they won’t count them as young adults, not until they commit crimes. And the bigger the crime, the more eager this people are to call them adults” (Lundstrom 87). This is why people can’t come to a decision as how these young people should be treated like.
The consequences may affect the minors negatively. Minors have a higher chance of rehabilitation if they are tried through juvenile court so that they can become better members of civilization. Despite that, some people think that minors may not learn their lesson if they are put through juvenile court, but minors should not be treated the same as adults. Minors should be treated for their age, not their crime so that they have the opportunity to change and become a better member of
