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Why Minors Tried In Adult Prisons

1489 Words6 Pages

Drake Hayes
Christopher Kutz
Legal Studies 39I
20 October 2017
Why Juveniles Tried In Adult Courts Have Higher Recidivism Rates? In the United States we punish people based on their crimes in different ways. All of these punishments fall into two subcategories: adult prisons/jails and Juvenile Detention Centers (JDC). When minors are punished they are supposed to be sent to a JDC, but they can be waived (transferred) into an adult prison. This became a trend in the 1990’s as juvenile crime was considered “out-of-control”. Ever since Juveniles have been split up between Juvenile Detention Centers and Adult Prisons, having two different types of results. This essay will answer the question of “why juveniles tried in adult courts have higher …show more content…

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. Two, that adult prison will lower Juvenile crime rates. Author of The Recidivism of Violent Youths In Juvenile and Adult Court David L. Myers writes that “This expectation of greater deterrence is based on the perception that juvenile courts are too lenient and that criminal courts can provide increased accountability and stronger punishment, which will reduce youthful offending” (Myers). These assumptions and perceptions false and are supported by opinion, not by …show more content…

This place of punishment focusses more on reformation than spending time in a prison cell. They have all different types of programs to help support the adolescents that are in JDC’s. Some of those programs include drug treatment, educational, vocational, counseling, and hate crime. In an article called From Both Sides Of The Bench - What Works? By PBS’ Frontline, multiple judges and attorneys speak about the effects of JDC’s and why they are better suited for youth. Kurt Kumli, the DA for the Juvenile Division of the Santa Clara County DA’s office says that “There are a whole of things that you can do in juvenile court that, frankly, adult court just doesn’t do.” Unlike adult prison in which the main difference in punishment is sentencing, the juvenile system can adapt to what will best reform the defendant. If that means going to counseling, school, or art classes, that can be arranged to give the minor the best chance of not committing another crime. Judge LaDoris Cordell believes that “the beauty of the juvenile justice system is that ic can be applied and modified to deal with the needs of the particular juvenile.” Similar to what Kumli said, Cordell is appreciating the fact that the Juvenile system works because it adapts to the needs of the “particular

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