Juvenile Justice Cases

The Juvenile Justice guidebook for Legislators suggest that “ Without treatment, the child may continue on a path of delinquency and eventually adult crime. Effective assessments of and comprehensive responses to court-involved juveniles with mental health needs can help break this cycle and produce healthier young people who are less likely to act out and commit crimes”. In a case, the jurors and prosecutors should at least be aware that if it was the mental disorder that caused or influenced them to kill, it could have been avoided. Through effective treatment the juvenile could have been able to break the cycle of a future criminal history. It should be taken into consideration that not all the time is juveniles associated with type of fundamental

Therefore, any fearful memory or trauma can influence them or trigger them to react off of impulse and commit the crime. If the brain is naturally developed this way , their is no need for a juvenile to be treated as an adult when an adult brain and Juvenile brain are completely distinctive. The article “ Adolescent brains open to change “ by Laura Sanders elaborates on the common normality between adolescents. “ This dramatic adolescent makeover represents a window of opportunity known as a sensitive period, allowing the brain to be selectively shaped by the outside world”. Many here would probably object that you cannot let the outside world shape you, however these are what studies have proven. If the adult brain and Juvenile brain are different than it only seems fair to treat them one another in a peculiar way when relating to crime. It is completely absurd to believe that a 12 year old can be held to the same standards as a 30 year old. Yes some do deserve to be in juvenile hall but not in prison with older inmates who have fully comprehended that what they did was most of the time inexcusable

However the law seems to contradict itself if incarcerating a 11 year old seems to fix the answer. All it really does is lead them to more trouble later on in life. It is cruel punishment because it should be obvious that trialing a juvenile as an adult is unfair due to the fact that their age truly defines them as what they are, a juvenile. If they are viewed as “adults” then they should be allowed privileges that are only given to adults. But that is not the case. They are only being viewed as adults to the advantage of the judicial system. By doing this you create bias towards what the actual consequences should