Analysis: Should Adolescents Be Tried As Adults

In the court of law many difficult decisions are made, and one is whether juveniles should be tried as adults or not. Many teens today are being placed in an adult prison for crimes they have committed. The crimes these teens commit are not necessarily their fault, but a poor choice they made. Teens should not be tried as adults for the risk of being sexually abused, not having a well developed brain, and having a higher risk of them committing suicide.

Should Juveniles be tried as Adults? Consider the following situation, “14 year old Nathaniel Brazill was found guilty for the murder of his English Professor last year. A charge of this degree usually comes with a prison sentence up to 30 years, but Brazille’s defense team is hopeful the judge will be more lenient in this case. Brazill’s team is riding on a powerful ally, Jeb bush, who said “There is a different standard for children, there should be some sensitivity that a 14 year-old is not a little adult” (Reaves 1). This is only one example of the argument against whether or not children should begin to be prosecuted as adults, an argument being found in more and more court rooms today.

There are times juveniles should not be convicted as adults because sometimes the “crimes” may not harsh enough to be charged as an adult. For example, if a 8 year old saw a gun in their mother's purse and thought it was a toy and grabbed it and began to shoot who would be at fault ? Plus children in adult prisons are 10 times more likely to be taken advantage of in their time. Research shows that children prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system are more likely to reoffend than those held in the juvenile justice

Juveniles are still developing children that deserve to be rehabilitated if possible. To begin with, juveniles that are given a second chance are unlikely to continue committing violent crimes. Juvenile are unaware of how a severe of a crime they have committed. Their actions may label them as adults but the truth is kids are not adults. These juveniles see the consequences they

The continuous question officials have been contemplating is whether or not juveniles should be tried as adults. Although it seems as easy to say if they do the crime they should do the time, it’s immorally incorrect. However, what types of crimes must juveniles commit to be charged as an adult? Juveniles from the age of 13 to 18 have the possibility to be transferred to an adult system if they commit serious crimes, such as murder, aggravated sexual assault, and robbery with a firearm. However many negative results prosper from juveniles being put into the adult system.

7 Why should teens be trialed as Adults? By Breyonna Holloman English IV Honors Ronald Wilson Period 1 March 14, 2017 Teens should be trialed as adults because they are committing acts that they have knowledge that is wrong. Murderers, rapists, and other criminals are being released from jail every day after serving only very short and lenient sentences.

Juveniles being tried as adults I fully believe that juveniles who commit adult crimes should be treated as an adult when being punished. Many people are against juveniles being tried as adults. Aside from being evaluated and diagnosed with a mental illness, I believe they should be charged like an adult if a juvenile commits heinous crimes, especially murder. If a teenager uses a gun or any other deadly weapon to assault another person, I believe his/her mind is developed enough to know that his/her actions could result in the other person's death.

Over the last few decades there have been more and more violent crimes committed by children and young adults. Some of these children are under the age of 15, committing violent crimes such as robbery, rape, murder, gang violence. Some of these children are being tried as adults while others are tried and punished as juveniles. A juvenile offender may receive a slap on the wrist being sentenced to house arrest or parole while others are being sent to adult prisons without the possibility of parole. An adult committing these same crimes would receive a more sever sentenced.

I believe adolescents should be tried as adult because from a young age humans know the difference between right or wrong. There have been many instances all over the world where juveniles commit crimes that are unexplainable and unexpected. 3 heart wrenching stories where juveniles commit the most horrid of crimes, are in the last 5 years a 10 year old boy was accused of fatally stabbing his 6th grade neighbor. While in the UK Daniel Bartlam is charged for killing his mother at the age of 14, and lastly, in the USA, an 11 year old boy is charged for killing his father's fiancee while she was pregnant. These are some example of why juveniles should be tried as adults, because if they are old enough to commit these murders they are old enough to face the full force of the justice system.

There are many controversies that surround juveniles being rehabilitated rather than going through the adult justice system, but studies show that juveniles are not fully developed to be tried as an adult. One of the main questions that it always boils down to is “should juveniles be tried as adults?” in my opinion juveniles should not be tried as adults because of their age.

Whether or not we should try juveniles as adults has always been a controversial issue. First of all, “juveniles” are children who fall under the age of 18. However, the legal age varies within certain states across the USA. Despite the age difference, some juveniles are still tried as adults. Does convicting a juvenile as an adult, turn out to be a better problem-solver, and how is this affecting the deterrence of crime?

The environment in adult facilities is immensely different from juvenile facilities. Rehabilitation options are limited in adult facilities. It is hard for children to fit in with adults, or even be respected. Lack of attention and bullying are both major problems for juveniles in prison (Human Rights Watch). Juveniles in prison have a 18x greater risk of committing suicide, due to lack of supervision (Juvenile Forensic Evaluation Center) However, juvenile facilities provide higher quality education, adequate health care, and better security. 70% of juveniles are held under locked situations, rather than staff secure settings (Juvenile Forensic Evaluation Center). This decreases the amount of violence between juveniles and the staff. Since depression is a common health issue, juvenile facilities often have treatment available. Giving a juvenile the resources to help, can really benefit them at this

Juveniles can be tried as adults for crimes ranging from kidnapping, murder, rape, arson, robbery, torture, assault, and more. Some of the cases that are sent to adult court are petty crimes, such as: underage drinking, possession of a controlled substance, and other minor crimes. The question is whether they should be tried as adults. These are all adult actions, on one hand, and may lead a person to wonder what brought a child to commit these crimes. One might further inspect that if a child or teenager is engaged in so-called “adult” activities, what kind of activities might a child choose to be involved in adulthood? What is the child’s background? Can you blame the child of a heroin addict for having access to drugs at a young age? Can you blame the child of a murderer for acting out? Yes, everyone has a choice even a child.

By law adolescents are not able to vote, purchase tobacco or alcohol, join the armed forces, or sign a legal contract. Children are not permitted the same rights and responsibilities as adults because the law recognizes their inability to make adult decisions. The law acknowledges that children are unable to handle the consequences that come along with the rights that adults have. By allowing them to be charged as adults is holding them to a double standard. Telling them that they are not old enough to enjoy the same luxuries as adults, but they can experience the same punishment as adults if they commit a crime. The law acknowledged the inability of children to make decisions but still allows them to suffer the same consequences as adults. Research demonstrates that transferring children from juvenile court to adult court does not decrease recidivism, and in fact actually increases crime. Instead of the child learning their mistake they are more likely to repeat it. Juvenile detention centers have programs that help reconstruct young minds and help them realize where they went wrong. Prison does not offer this same opportunity. (Estudillo, Mary Onelia)

In my own opinion, I consider juveniles as immature because they lack the ability to recognize the long term impact of their actions as they have decreased levels of responsibility. Therefore, the justice system should not charge juveniles in adult legal system and sentence them as adults.Trying juveniles as adults exposes the young offenders to state penitentiaries up to life in prison without parole and even sentenced to death. This raises a question on how truly effective treating juveniles as adults are to the young offenders. As the crimes committed by juveniles increase, there has been an outcry from the public and affected to prosecute juveniles accused of serious crimes as adults. It is true that juveniles do