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Summary Of The Steep Cost Of Keeping Juveniles In Adult Prisons

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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. In the article, “Kids Should Never Be Tried As Adults” written by Robert Schwartz, it says, “Recent brain imaging technology reinforces …the teenage brain is undergoing dramatic changes during adolescence in ways that affect teen’s ability to …show more content…

Many people just look at just the minors crime and not what lead them to that crime.The minor could have had abusive parents, drug addicted parents, or no parents at all. A different perspective might agree with this and say it simply does not matter what happened during their past. These people believe that some crimes committed by juveniles are just too horrific to let them slide. They believe that if the child is smart enough to plan and execute the crime, then they are smart enough to know the impact and the consequences of their decision. This is unfair to the minor because it is assuming a lot about them, without even considering their

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The definition of minor is a person under the age of full legal responsibility. When someone thinks of a minor they think of a person under the age of 18 and a person who makes decisions that aren’t the best or even rash decisions they may regret later. When juveniles are tried, they usually aren’t tried as adults but sometimes they are. When juveniles are tried

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Back to Paul Thompson’s research on the teenage brain, he claims that “the parts of the frontal lobes that inhibit reckless actions restructure themselves with startling speed in the teen years” (10). As their brains develop, juveniles are capable of changing their previously immature behavior. Rehabilitation is an opportunity for juveniles to demonstrate that they can change and become productive people for society. In addition, the former juvenile judge Gail Garinger show her support for rehabilitation by stating that “the same malleability that makes them vulnerable to peer pressure also makes them promising candidates for rehabilitation” (9). In other words, if juveniles are taught to become criminals, then they can also be rehabilitated to become good people.

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A lot of people believe that age should not be considered at all when the felony is extremely severe. Justice needs to be served and they need to pay for the crime they have committed, juvenile or not. According to the Time magazine article ‘What Makes Teens Tick’ Dr. Jay Giedd states that “The very last part of the brain to be pruned or shaped to its adult dimensions is the prefrontal cortex, home of the executive functions.” An adult brain is different than teens, because an adult brain is more developed.

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Juveniles may not be adults however; they should be punished the same as an adult if they committed a serious crime. Say a juvenile had murdered someone, they should be charged as an adult and not be given certain amount of years and then probation. These juveniles who commit serious crimes knew what they were doing and should deal with the consequence no matter the age. I am not saying that a a juvenile under the age of 18 should be put in adult prison, however they should be in a juvenile detention until he/ she is old enough to be transferred in to a prison.

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1392 Words | 6 Pages

Why should teen felons get to spend their jail time in juvenile detention centers for committing the same crimes as adults? In today’s world, teens are increasingly committing violent crimes and being put in juvenile detention centers. Teens need to be tried as adults because it helps to bring justice to families of victims, and it also teaches the teens accountability. Charging teens as adults will also help reduce crime in the United States. Although many people feel that teens should not be given severe punishments because they are immature and innocent, they have not considered the problem teens are creating by committing these crimes..

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Some may think that juveniles being tried as an adult is unfair and foolish due to the accused’s age. Teens are more irresponsible, immature, and receptive to everything around us than adults. It is common for teens to mess up more than adults because their lack of knowledge and wisdom. Do I think juveniles being tried as adults is fai? No, I do not.

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When juveniles commit serious crimes they often only receive a minor slap on the wrist, possibly probation. These juveniles then continue to commit worse crimes as well as damage countless lives until they are put away for life as adults. The juvenile system is a place for minors who commit crimes, it has less harsh punishments and is easy going. In this system, there is a multitude of programs for minors to receive help, such as rehabilitation, psychiatric hospitals, in addition to counseling. Minors who have gone through this system come through multiple times due to the fact that they do not learn their lesson or receive the help they need.

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Juveniles are tried in an adjudication hearing instead of a public trial with a jury. The judge determines if the minor is delinquent and from there the court decides the next course of action. However, many alternative sentences are used to keep juveniles out of jail where adults are usually put in jail awaiting trial or sentencing and then go to prison after they’ve gone through the long process of trial. The way it is possible for a minor to get off easy is because of the admission of evidence it is much more lenient in the juvenile court system. For adults that isn’t the case at all, it is a much stricter process and a long

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Unfortunately, 1,852 minors were incarcerated into juvenile correctional facilities in 2018 (Prison Policy, 2018). This does not include the number of minors who were tried as adults or the cases that were never recorded. With the rates of juvenile crimes alarmingly increasing, it’s important to investigate possible factors and whether or not the individual should be tried as an adult. There are many situations and reasons in which I feel minors should not be tried as adults.

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Sweeping changes need to be made the juvenile system. They’re too many incarcerations, Locking up the children of our future based off a minor mistakes and age no longer being taken into considerations to determine the correct punishment. Since 2006, there has been a huge problem with the Juvenile System locking up minors. ‘The original theory behind separating juvenile offenders from adult offenders was to provide care and direction for youngsters instead of isolation and punishment.” Over 70 million children under the age of 18 have been in trouble with the Juvenile System, that is more than 25 percent of the United States population.

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Picture this, a child sitting in prison, alone, scared, regretful, and he/she has a whole life ahead of them that will go down the waste for something they did that they might not fully understand why they did it. Age, brain development, environment, and immaturity are all the factors that should be recognized before they go and try juveniles as adults. Children have so many influences and faults that adults do not have as much of. Juveniles should not be allowed to be tried as adults.

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A public defender says in a short documentary that, “We are seeing far too many young offenders entering the adult system who should be dealt with in the juvenile system”, and that a way some juvenile offenders are treated far worse than they deserve. Just because juveniles made bad decisions in their youth does not mean that they should be given a life sentence or put on death row, because they were just children who made some terrible mistakes. The people that think juveniles deserve the worst punishment they can get are probably don't understand that juveniles don’t really know what they are doing and it most likely isn’t always their own

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In our society, crimes are being committed not only by adults but by juveniles as well. By law as soon as a person turns 18 they are considered to be an adult. So what if an adult and a juvenile were to commit the same crime yet were sentenced differently simply based on the fact that one is a child and one is an adult? Juveniles are committing violent crimes just as adults and should be given the equal treatment and sentencing as adults receive. Juveniles aren’t completely ignorant as everyone seems to think.

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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.

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“Each juvenile is placed in a facility that provides the appropriate level of programming and security…several factors—such as age, offense, length of commitment, mental and physical health—are considered when making placements” (BOP). Adolescents are the most common minors that are imprisoned in adult penitentiaries and the most common crimes that they are convicted for are homicide, rape, assault with a deadly weapon, or other serious felony. “The Justice Department estimates that about 10 percent of all homicides are committed by juveniles under the age of 18” (Khan). Juvenile offenders are only tried as adults if they are arrested and charged for a severe crime such as homicide or rape or if they have a past criminal record. Any other crime that a minor might commit will be handled in a juvenile court, which focuses more on rehabilitating the young convict rather than sentencing them harshly and serving hard time in prison with the dangerous adult

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