ipl-logo

Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults

1955 Words8 Pages

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. The issue of dangerous kids being charged and sentenced as adults in the late 1980s for especially cruel crimes became …show more content…

However, others may disagree with the fact that 10-year-olds should be held responsible for criminal actions, arguing that it is a very young age to be sentenced as an adult. Minor criminals should be held back for criminal actions; in some cases, sentenced as an adult starting at the age of 10 for severe crimes that are obviously wrong. Juvenile heinous crimes are nothing new nor surprising in today’s society. This problem started to grow so much in the 1990s that the State's Supreme Court became involved when it came to juveniles. In the Online video, the filmmaker has mentioned that “In the United States, there are 2,225 young offenders who have been sentenced to life without parole for having committed murder in their teens.”. This just shows how the problem continues to grow with time. With the USA having the most juveniles in prison, the most common reasons for that is either family trauma or abuse or the use of …show more content…

Most of these criminals commit these crimes to others that are innocent because of anger issues that can not be handled or for other mental or drug addiction issues. Hence, the minor will be sent to where their crime and mental status are to be tried for their crimes. Depending on the crime and on the criminal mental and drug issues, they will be sent to either juvenile detention or prison, whichever suits the best for their behavior and actions and where it helps society be more safe from the spread of these crimes. In the U.S., ages are established when a person is responsible enough to drive and vote; in other parts of the world there is also an “Age of Criminal Responsibility.” The age of criminal responsibility is based on when a country decides people are capable of understanding their behavior and are responsible for their actions. Ages range from 7 to 17 depending on what country one lives in. Ireland and the UK, for example, are as low as 10. The average age of criminal responsibility throughout the world is 12. According to Penal International’s online article, Justice for Children Briefing

Show More
Related
2888 Words | 12 Pages

The article goes on to say that over 3,000 people are in prison for a crime they committed as a minor. They say it is done because they are not allowed to give minors the death penalty any longer. They say that for a minor life in prison is the equivalent to the death penalty. It is then brought about that some of these children are under the of 13. The author of the goes on to say that the courts realize that the children doing these crimes are not fully mature and understanding of their crime.

Read More
743 Words | 3 Pages

While charging young offenders as adults could potentially protect people on the outside, children who are housed in the same facility as adults is not a good idea nor a good mix. “I watched Joe, who laughed like a little boy, but I saw the lines in his face and even the emergence of a few prematurely gray hairs on his head. I realized even while I laughed, that his unhappy childhood had been followed by unhappy, imprisoned teenage years followed by unhappy incarceration through young adulthood. All of the sudden, it occurred to me what a miracle it was that he could still laugh.” (Stevenson 217-224) Children in adult prisons are prone to rape, suicide and assault than in juvenile detention centers according to studies on juvenile suicide in adult institutions and youth facilities in the 1980s.

Read More
931 Words | 4 Pages

In an article about juvenile justice, it states, “Legislators have finally started to realize that treating juveniles just like adults does more harm than good,” says David DeMatteo, a professor of law at Drexel University in Philadelphia,” (“Juvenile Justice”). This supports Bryan’s claim of how juveniles were misunderstood in the past. This misunderstanding had caused most juveniles to end up in adult jails where they were mistreated and suffered from assault and abuse. Stevenson also stated that, “Many states had changed their laws to make it easier to prosecute children... Alabama had more juveniles sentenced to death per capita than any other state or any other country in the world,” (Stevenson, 93).

Read More
805 Words | 4 Pages

As he faced justice through the court system, advocates unnecessarily argued that he was only a child and too young to serve as an adult. To show that an individual’s age should not be used as an excuse to justify their actions, Weir states “Some juveniles commit crimes so serious, so heinous, that public safety mandates — and justice demands — full accountability in our criminal justice system. There are those who argue this is unfair and unjust. They say the juvenile brain is not fully developed until well into the

Read More
557 Words | 3 Pages

In most instances the juveniles who are arrested for crimes are either at the wrong place at the wrong time or usually with a group of people who are doing the crimes. Many juveniles are forced into the criminal lifestyle from the area that they live in and around. Through these environments and areas of livings, most juveniles have learned and adopted to defy authority and

Read More
1489 Words | 6 Pages

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 921,600 minors were arrested in the year 2015. These minors are then tried in Juvenile court (unless they are 16 or older in North Carolina and New York). They are either tried and if guilty, sent to a JDC or waived to an adult court. PBS’ Frontline cites two assumptions that justify trying Juveniles as adults. One, that juveniles are tried as adults to have longer, more proportional sentences to their crimes.

Read More
60 Words | 1 Pages

The huge bulk of juveniles don’t commit serious offenses or minor offenses. Certain will commit status offenses, which convey to their age, like smoking cigarettes and marijuana, consumption liquor, running away from home. Juveniles commit grave offenses for lots of causes. They may have a core alcohol or drug issue. Females with mental illness are further likely to hurt themselves.

Read More
450 Words | 2 Pages

, 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.

Read More
506 Words | 3 Pages

We have seen today in society of how crime rates have been rampant and how statistics show that most of the crimes were being made by minors. I believe that when most of them look at the bottom of these young offenders come disproportionately from impoverished single-parent homes that are located in the neighbourhoods desinvertido and have high rates of learning disabilities, mental health, and substance abuse and problems with the help of the system of juvenile justice that can make a great return on a successful transition to adulthood. Their ages ranged from 20 and under, most are under fifteen years of age. Juveniles tried as adults must assume the same consequences as any other criminal and are subject to state prisons with inmates much higher and that have probably committed crimes much more tortuous then you could ever have. These minors between the ages of nine to twenty according to the offence committed or of the number of times that are prosecuted and believe that it is immutable.

Read More
964 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
801 Words | 4 Pages

Even if a minor committed a violent crime, that does not mean they deserve to be placed with the most brutal and cruel people to walk this earth. That’s what prison is. It’s where the really bad people go. Juvenile detention centers are where the really bad kids go who have a shot at

Read More
1979 Words | 8 Pages

It is debated that juveniles are committing more serious and violent crimes because the youth think they can get off easy and take advantage of the system put in place. Those in favor of youth offenders being tried as adults believe that as juveniles are punished to the full extent of the law, future youth offender will think twice before committing a criminal act. In support of this, seventy-five percent of the transferred juveniles interviewed by Redding and Fuller (2004) felt that their experiences in the adult criminal justice system had taught them the serious consequences of committing crimes. As one juvenile explained, “[Being tried as an adult] showed me it’s not a game anymore. Before, I thought that since I’m a juvenile I could do just about anything and just get 6 months if I got

Read More
1058 Words | 5 Pages

When children and teens commit a violent crime such as murder, courts convict them as adults. This means that children as young as eight have been tried as adults in court. Eventually, these convicts will be housed in jails with adults. Despite the federal law stating that juvenile and adult inmates must be separated, most states do not comply with these rules. Furthermore, a law that varies throughout the states is the age in which courts send the children to adult or juvenile prisons.

Read More
1043 Words | 5 Pages

Annotated bibliography Childress, S. (2016, June 2). More States Consider Raising the Age for Juvenile Crime. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/more-states-consider-raising-the-age-for-juvenile-crime/ More states are considering to raising the age for juvenile crimes before being tried as adult because young offender's mental capacity. The idea is to cut the cost of incarcerate young offender in adult prison and ensure offenders to receive proper education and specialized care to change their behavior. Putting children in adult prison does not deter crime.

Read More
964 Words | 4 Pages

In conclusion as to how to treat teens who commit crimes I would say that it really depends on how serious is the crime they commit, but I believe that juveniles that are 15 and older should be convicted as adults because they have taken some responsibilities at that age and are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong in certain situations. Being a teen myself my parents have taught me to be held accountable for my actions, and what I do is for a reason. With teens committing crimes it should be the same. Become older only increases your knowledge and capacity to learn what is right from

Read More

More about Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults

Open Document