Juveniles Being Tried As Adults

The face of American crime has evolved from adults to the not so innocent faces of adolescence. In today’s society, it is not uncommon for people to fear just walking into public places because they don’t know what horrendous actions may occur due to the indifferent, disrespectful actions of some of America’s youth. Parents are often hesitant to send their children to school because they feel that they cannot trust their child’s fellow classmates. This lack of trust and apprehension was evident in Wisconsin, where two thirteen year old girls attempted to murder one of their fellow classmates. Their reasoning was that they were trying to imitate a fictional character that they saw on the internet. These two young girls were tried as adults

The age of the offenders continually decreases, and the brutality of the crimes seems to be increasing. Cameron Williams, age sixteen, celebrated his 16th birthday behind bars (Khan). This young man had been convicted of shooting a police officer who was chasing him around after he had been pulled over by the officer. Williams previously had charges of robbery and assault, also. “Even though he is a minor, Williams was charged in an adult court because of his troublesome history and the "serious nature of the crime," the county attorney's office said. (Khan). Brenda Beadle, chief officer of the county, made a statement saying, “Anybody who pulls a gun and aims it at a police officer is a very serious threat, and I would consider him a very dangerous individual.” (Khan). Williams, being tried as adult, added fuel to the fire of the big debate whether juveniles should be tried as adults. The Justice Department estimates that about 10 percent of all homicides are committed by youths under the age of 18. About every year the FBI will arrest more than 33,000 young adults for offenses. This number is too high. America should not have this many juveniles acting out and committing horrific acts. Trying these adolescents in adult court should instill fear in them, and hopefully make them think of the consequences before they act out. “The number of violent crimes committed by young people declined

A Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted a study in 40 of the nation’s largest urban communities. “It was found that an estimated 7,100 juvenile defendants were charged with felonies in adult criminal court in 1998. Of these 40 county criminal courts, juveniles were 64% more likely than adults to be charged with a violent felony. These juvenile defendants were generally treated as serious offenders, as 52% did not receive pretrial release, 63% were convicted of a felony, and 43% of those convicted received a prison sentence. States have expanded the mechanisms by which juveniles can be charged in criminal courts. In 1998, statutory exclusion was the most common method (42%) used to charge juveniles defendants compared to the more traditional use of juvenile waiver (24%). In the 40 counties in 1998, 62% of the juvenile felony defendants were black, 20% were white, 16% were Hispanic, and almost 2% were of another race” (“Bureau of Justice Statistics”).As time goes on, crime rates of youths