Juveniles Punished As Adults And Criminals

Juvenile delinquency is a controversial topic that this country has been trying to improve on for many years. In the YouTube video “America’s Juvenile Injustice System” Marsha Levick discusses the exact injustices that are occurring in our justice system. She provides examples of those who have gone through the system and did not receive their justice. This video is a Ted Talk done in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was created with the intent to inform its intended audience about how the juvenile justice system came to be and how much further it still needs to go in order to give justice to all the juveniles who go through it.

According to T. Williams at https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/us/us-prison-population.html?_r=0, (2016). “The number of inmates held in state and federal prisons, fell to its lowest level since 2005 dropping by 2.7 percent.” However, while adult crimes seem to be decreasing. The opposite can be said about juvenile related crimes which seem to be increasing. In this paper, I will be providing my reasons as to why I believe juvenile related crimes are going up, as well as talk about two programs that are working to keep at risk youth out of the criminal justice system.

Juvenile delinquency has become a controversial issue within the Criminal Justice system. In the United States, juvenile delinquency refers to disruptive and criminal behavior committed by an individual under the age of 18. In many states, a minor at the age of 16 to 17 ½ can be tried as an adult. Once the individual reaches adulthood, the disruptive and criminal behavior is recognized as a crime. However, the criminal justice system has divided juvenile delinquency into two general types of categories that has brought upon controversial issues of inequality and corruption. Yet, putting young individuals in juvenile detentions facilities seems to open the door for them to commit more crimes in the future. Therefore, under certain circumstances juveniles should be tried as an adult.

Juveniles committing crimes, being arrested and going to jails and prisons, is a sad fact that has hit every city, in every state in the United States of America. It is not a hard thing to comprehend, turn on the TV and watch the news. Every night there is surely to be a report about a crime committed by one of America’s youth. Many people question the reason for such high numbers of juveniles committing crimes; others turn a blind eye and refuse to acknowledge the fact that every day more children of this country are slipping into the life of crime. Some concerned members of society ask what can be done to stop it; how can they help? The answer is action! Law enforcement, as well as Local, State, and

“ Her murder was thoughtful, deliberate and cunning in it planning and execution” (Weir 13). To begin with juveniles vs. the criminal justice system juveniles who commit horrible and violent crimes that are cunning in its planning and execution should be sentenced adults sentences as they aren’t safe to remain in society. As they can do harm to themselves or harm to others which is dangerous. In addition, the eighth amendment has no place in the decision the judges at the Supreme Court have to make as prisoners are provided free tablets, cable, healthcare, and education. There is no cruel and unusual punishment in this situation. The purpose of sentencing juveniles an adult sentence is in order to stop

In the past century, the law that juveniles should not get prosecuted as adults has been payed much attention to. The first law that was made to not prosecute them as adults was in 1899 ("Juvenile Law - History", 2016).

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention established that in 2009 there were a total of 1,812,900 juvenile arrest. These arrest consisted of those who were arrested and never tried as adults, for the purpose of this paper the same definition of a juvenile will be used. It can be easily argued that the juvenile population is Americas most vulnerable, and this is the population that we are arresting at such high numbers. To understand why these juveniles are being arrested at such high numbers we must take a closer look at our criminal justice system. We as a nation are currently in the business of warehousing humans under the guise of “justice” in order to turn a

There are many similarities and differences between the adult and juvenile justice systems. Although juvenile crimes have increased in violence and intensity in the last decade, there is still enough difference between the two legal proceedings, and the behaviors themselves, to keep the systems separated. There is room for changes in each structure. However, we cannot treat/punish juvenile offenders the way we do adult offenders, and vice versa. This much we know. So we have to find a way to merge between the two. And, let’s face it; our juveniles are more important to us in the justice system. They are the group at they

This debate topic is dealing about whether juveniles should get adult prison treatment, or not. This topic is not entirely related to the book, Ghettoside, but does come up in a part of it. In part of the book, Bryant Tennelle, a recent high school graduate, was murdered by another teenager, Devin Davis, aged 16 years old. He had been in juvenile camp for other offenses, but had always gotten of effortlessly. Even though he explained that the murder was unintentional and he was forced to, he was sent to jail. “Devin Davis had become thickset during his six months in jail, and his hair was an unkempt bush growing down the back of his neck. His eyes roved around as he entered the courtroom, looking for his mother.”(Ghettoside,

I do not think it is a good idea to lock juveniles up in prisons with adults. For a child to set down and plan a murder for instance, there would have to be some kind of deep emotional problem. On the other side of this, if the child knows right from wrong and he can sit down and plan a murder, then you could say if he is old enough to kill someone then he is old enough to die. The juvenile criminal is rooted much deeper than right from wrong. It starts back from when they are small children. Most of them are usually outsiders or outcasts. Who can you hold fault for that other than society? If juveniles don't fit in with the popular kids in school they are considered an

Murderers, rapists, and other criminals are being released from jail every day after serving only extremely short sentences. These criminals are given special treatment because they are delinquents. Some are given new identities and are allowed to live their lives in peaceful bliss, all while the victims and their families are left to suffer forever. With courts and juvenile rights advocates believing that these delinquents deserve second chances, they are allowing criminals to walk the streets, live as our neighbors, and in many instances, commit additional crimes. While some disagree that juvenile offenders should be tried as adults, there should not be any special privileges for the atrocious crimes they commit, because they may think they

Serious crimes such as murder, burglary and rape have raised questions as to whether the young offenders should face severe punitive treatment or the normal punitive measures in juvenile courts. Many would prefer the juveniles given harsh punishment in order to discourage other young people from engaging in similar activities and to serve as a lesson to these particular offenders. However, results from previous studies indicate such punitive measures were neither successful nor morally acceptable. Instead, the solutions achieved have unfairly treated the youths and compromised the society status (Kristin, page 1).

Many young adolescents who have committed horrendous crimes have been a huge topic amongst the Supreme Court. Whether young adolescents are viewed as innocent, naive children to the public, this not changed the fact they can commit brutal crimes. In spite of the fact that adolescents have committed brutal crimes such as murder, one needs to understand that their brains are not as fully developed as an adult brain would be. Adolescents should not be trialed to a life sentence or attend adult prisons; however, they should be punished for their actions and undergo rehabilitation programs to help them be prepared to fit in with the rest of society.

In the society we live in today, juvenile justice is a nation wide concern of law enforcement. A juvenile is a person that is seventeen years old and under. In august of 2005, the United States Supreme Court agreed to consider the constitution of adding a death penalty for juveniles who do heinous crime but only in certain states . If we were to charge juveniles like adults studies shows that they would be in more danger and also less of a chance for rehabilitation . Juveniles are going through a lot of development biologically speaking, it would be unjust to impose adult sentences because it would not help them rehabilitate, but it will result to a dangerous outcome of their future.

In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who commit murder can not be sentenced to life in prison because it takes away and violates their 8th Amendment rights, which bans unusual punishments towards criminals. Elena Kagan writes for the majority of the Supreme Court and says that teens are immature and are unable to comprehend the consequences of their actions and that they might not be surrounded by a stable home environment. People will say that a child’s life is ruined if they are sentenced to prison for life, which is true, but the life of the person that they killed is also ruined. Anyone that commits murder deserves to suffer the consequences. Others will say that the adolescent is mentally sick and needs to be cured. I strongly disagree with the Supreme Court ruling that juveniles can not be sentenced to life in prison because of their age. No matter who they are or how old, any person, adult or juvenile, who commits murder should be sentenced to prison for life.