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Juvenile Offenders In The Court System

624 Words3 Pages

The punishments for adolescent 10 through 17 in the court system or the incarceration of juveniles, who commits serious crime, do not work. For this Juvenile who commits a serious offense should be tried as an adult. The statistics show that the crime rate among children between the ages of 10 through 17, are on the rise. The National Institute of Justice (2012) stated that “In 2010, there were 225 arrests for Violent Crime Index offenses for every 100,000 youth between 10 and 17 years of age.” (para 4). Peer pressure and insufficient effective guidance contribute to a child’s delinquency. Gangs are recruiting these unsupervised young individuals to commit minor crimes. “How old are gang members?”, “40% are juveniles (under 18) and …show more content…

Youthful offenders should be held accountable for their destructive behavior towards others, and justice should be given to the victims that they have caused to suffer. During the past “Children as young as 7, however, could stand trial in criminal court for offenses committed and, if found guilty, could be sentenced to prison or even to death” (NCJRS, 1999 para 1). Time and time again, juveniles who commit crimes are placed on house arrest or have even been put on probation, without paying retribution to their victims. Without having to pay for their actions, these juveniles can be and most often become repeat offenders. As the perception of juvenile delinquency deteriorates, many states have passed laws allowing minors as young as 13 to be tried as an adult. "In most states, a juvenile offender must be at least 16 to be eligible for waiver to adult court. But, in a number of states, minors as young as 13 could be subjected to a waiver petition. And a few states allow children of any age to be tried as adults for certain types of crimes, such as homicide" (NOLO Law for All, 2015, para 2). In some cases, the parents are also charged for their children’s actions. "In Des Moines, Iowa, city officials thought they had the solution to the rising juvenile crime rate: Hold the parents liable when their children are

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