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When Are Juveniles Tried As Adults Essay

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Juveniles take up a large percentage of prisons in the U.S. every year with some having long adult sentences. According to njjn.org 250,000 juniors under the age of 18 are charged in an adult court and sentenced to prison with an adult sentence. Many states still allow kids as young as ten to be tried in an adult court with a jury rather than be in a juvenile court without one. Adult prison sentences are too harsh for juveniles. There are many different crimes that can put a junior in an adult court. States only push adult sentences if a juvenile has committed a felony. A felony is a more serious crime like murder, armed robbery, or rape. While for some people this makes sense others don’t agree with it thinking it’s an unfair punishment. Sophia DeBlasi states in her article “When Are Juveniles Tried as Adults” “Most often when a juvenile is tried as an adult, it is due to the fact that they have committed a very serious crime”. When a juvenile receives an adult sentence they usually have committed a serious crime which could possibly wipe away the rest of their childhood. …show more content…

An age requirement of 14 which is in most states is fair compared to others seeing some states allow minors to be tried at just the age of ten to be tried in an adult court. Most states have laws to protect adolescents from being tried as an adult. The article Children in Adult Prison written by EJI says “The law protects children younger than 14 since their brains are still developing. The average age that allows a minor to be tried as an adult is not fair and should be changed so we don't have to fill up adult prisons with kids that may still be in elementary

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