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Just Mercy Thesis

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There are many victims of unfortunate circumstances in the world today, yet some of these results could have been easily avoided. In the novel, Just Mercy, the author Bryan Stevenson addresses many cases in which children under the age of 18 are incarcerated within the adult criminal justice system. By treating children as adults in the criminal justice system their innocence and undeveloped person, become criminalized. These children become dehumanized and only viewed as full-fledged criminals and as a result society offers no chance sympathy towards them. Stevenson argues that children tried as adults have become damaged and traumatized by this system of injustice. His claim that children should not be tried as adults is agreeable because …show more content…

These attributes can be something that a person has no control over, such as their race or socio-economic background. Criminalization is not often based on laws, but instead revolves around customs that others have been understood as good or bad, which can later lead to laws. This idea consists of the reinterpretation of everyday actions or ideas and vilifying them (Merry 14 -15). In the cases of children there exists the idea that a child who commits a violent and heinous crime will only become more violent and will continue to commit crimes. Therefore, once a despicable act has been committed by a child he or she becomes labeled as a violent criminal. This concept is known as the superpredator; that violent youths criminals, mini adults who should be doing the adult time for committing adult crimes (Bourgeois 150). This lead to the common idea that violent children are no exception to the law and should actually be detained as soon as possible to prevent further crimes. Since this term was brought into use it has proven to be widely inaccurate as there exists no evidence that young children involved in violent crimes became more frequent or more violent than their counterparts. The idea of superpredators thoroughly criminalizes children who have committed heinous acts because the children become defined by their crime leading many to believe that no matter the age,

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