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.
A plethora of children in the United States is being tried as an adult consequently, 3000 children nationwide are sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Children under the age of eighteen should not be tried as an adult in the interest of the physical and mental well-being of the child. Many questions should be asked by the court before considering trying a child as an adult. What was the nature and nurture of the accused child? Was the child being abused?
Juveniles shouldn’t be tried as adults. First, they are too young to understand and to perceive the problem. Second, the punishment is too harsh for juveniles to handle. Lastly, we should give them a chance to change as they still are young and be able to change. Would you put your kids in jail for the crime that they cause at the age of developing, the age of teenagers?
Juveniles are being tried as adults and being put through horrible conditions at a young age. Many say that juveniles should be tried as adults if they made the decision to make an awful act. Others say that juveniles are young and do not have as much knowledge as an adult would have. Juveniles should not be tried as adults because it violates the 8th amendment, the brain is undeveloped, and when they are tried in criminal court, it empowers them to commit more crime.
In many cases throughout the world, there has always and will be a controversial argument whether a “kid” should be trialed as an adult or not. The Supreme court has to take into action, whether the case was severe and how they will punish the teenager for whatever crime they committed. In, my opinion I highly agree that juveniles should be tried as adults no matter how old they are because they were aware of their actions and knew exactly what they were doing at the moment. Even, though some people might think otherwise, like they’re just ‘kids” and don’t know from right or wrong. Honestly, this is so, absurd because you can’t be that idiotic to not know what you’re doing.
“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.
, First, let's talk about the juvenile correction process. Charges brought up against juveniles are brought by the state not a victim. Juveniles, typically 18 years and younger, commit delinquent acts. Once a delinquent act is committed and the state has brought up charges, the juvenile justice systems look to treat and rehabilitate offenders rather than incarcerate them. First, as in adult cases as well, an investigation is conducted and charges are brought up.
In 1993 10-year-olds Jon Vensibaals and Robert Thomsan beat a 2-year-old to death then put his dead body on the railroad tracks to cover the crime committed. Even though they were just children when they committed this awful crime, they knew what they did was wrong. So the question then is, “if they knew what they were doing was wrong, and planned to murder someone, should they be tried as adults for the crime or as juveniles?” The juvenile criminal system was designed to reform and rehabilitate juveniles in their best interest, depending on the crime. On the other hand, the adult criminal system punishes the adult for crimes.
In today’s society, the amount of crime is around 1,197,704 violent crimes committed worldwide (FBI). In the same year 53,500 crimes were committed by juveniles (National Center). The question that remains important over time is, should violent juvenile offenders be tried and sentenced as adults? If adolescents aren’t treated as adults in everyday life they should not be tried and sentenced as adults. The juvenile court system was established in the United States around two hundred years ago, the first court appearing in 1899 (Findlaw).
The Debate on Trying Juveniles as Adults Juvenile justice is a topic of great importance in our society. When it comes to heinous, felony crimes such as murder and rape, the question of whether juveniles should be tried, adjudicated, and sentenced as adults is a highly debated topic. In my opinion, juveniles who commit such crimes should be treated as adults Juveniles should be tried as adults due to the severity of their heinous, felony crimes and the importance of holding them accountable, while also considering the necessity of rehabilitation within the juvenile justice system My first reason for believing that juveniles who commit heinous, felony crimes should be tried, adjudicated, and sentenced as adults these crimes are incredibly serious and have a significant impact on society. These crimes cause physical and emotional harm to victims and their families, and they create a sense of fear and insecurity in society.
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.
Those in favor of trying juveniles as adults believe that it deters and minimizes crimes being committing by all minors. That trying juveniles as adults will bring the greatest good to the most amount of people. According to an article posted by the American Bar Association by Nicole Scialabba, “the increase in laws that allow more juveniles to be prosecuted in adult court rather than juvenile court was intended to serve as a deterrent for rising youth violent crime.” It is no secret that youth commit crimes in our society. In 2014, law enforcement agencies in the U.S. made an estimated 1 million arrests of persons under age 18 (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention).
Teenagers are not perfect, and their irrational behavior can lead to poor decisions that could potentially be dangerous and unlawful. A debate has now occurred for many years that deals with the issue of sentencing teens that have committed serious crimes such as murder and robbery. Many people argue that if juveniles commit these crimes that their punishment should be equal to an adults punishment for serious crimes, but juveniles shouldn’t have to worry about their lives getting ruined. Most juveniles and teenagers do not have enough maturity to survive in the adult prison system, and recent brain development research shows us that teenagers brains are not even close to being finished developing. Therefore, teenagers and youth under the age of eighteen should
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.
Can you imagine waking up behind closed walls and bars? Waking up to see your inmate who is a 45-year-old bank robber and you are a 14-year-old minor who made a big mistake. This is why minors who have committed crimes should not be treated the same as adults. Some reasons are because the consequences given to minors in adult court would impact a minor’s life in a negative way. If a minor is tried through a juvenile court, they have a greater chance of rehabilitation.
