Juveniles Should Face Trial As Adults

All our life we commit mistakes, but should a young teen’s life be taken away in a an instant because of an idiotic mistake they made? According to the eighth amendment, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” It would be cruel to give a young teen a mandatory life sentence without parole without giving them the chance to redeem him/herself and get their life back together. I understand that there are crimes that have no forgiveness, however there are several teens that don 't realize what they are doing. “Young people are biologically different from adults” (Garinger 1).

They end up having nothing and have nowhere else to turn but to the streets. The system makes the juveniles lives harder by the situations that they end up in once they are out of jail. Police make them seem as if they are already criminals so why not be the people that the system sees them as. Teenagers in OPP do not get the correct medical treatment (Josh). The ways that they are treated and how they receive no help is ashame because that is not how people should be treated no matter where they are.

Many people would say that we should be protecting the children and not taking out vengeance on them and they are too young to take on such a weighty legal responsibility. If the child is old enough to commit the crime, then they should be punished for it. Several reasons explain why they should be tried like they will understand the

In an age where juvenile crime has escalated from simple truancy to more serious crimes such as mass school shootings some would agree it is time to abolish juvenile courts or modify the system at the very least. Because of the seriousness of juvenile crime in this day and age, most states have already lowered the age limit for juvenile court jurisdiction from 17 years and are prosecuting more children as adults depending of the seriousness of the crime. Some criminal justice and child welfare scholars argue that younger children do not have the mental capability or experience to weigh the consequence of committing a crime and much less understand the implications of a criminal record in their future. Furthermore, they note that most juveniles grow out of criminal behavior as they mature out of the system and in

Introduction We have 15 and 16 year olds not able to drive cars, yet we will classify them as adults and lock them away in prison for life without parole. New aged teens have brains that are growing and developing constantly. In fact, in adolescence the brain does a lot of pruning, or rather throwing out information that is not being exercised, which consequently loses brain tissue in the areas that control impulses, self-control and risk-taking. Even with this considered, teens are given no mercy and will be locked away before they even finish puberty. However, many see certain crimes too punishable and do not wish to coddle a kid and let them get away with things such as murder.

Every now and then, adolescents move off the straight and narrow path of prosperity; leading them to run against the law instead of with it. It is important to help these children get back on the right track, and start moving towards a more productive life. This is the main goal of juvenile probation in the United States. The juvenile probation system has developed with the evolution of the juvenile justice and court system in America; as a way to separate young lawbreakers from adult criminals. As some sort of feedback to the harshness of the criminal law system during the 1800s was the effort to keep young lawbreakers out of institutions.

The opportunity for a one-time juvenile delinquent to have their record expunged would probably come at the end of a chapter in their life that they would like to forget. At one time or another in our childhood, we did some things that we were not proud of and would want to forget. For the most part, we did it out of immaturity or simply not considering the consequences of our actions. I have come across a lot of juveniles in my life and even some adults were the only thing that separates my story from their story, is one or two bad decisions. I have come across criminals who have had similar or better childhoods than myself.

Juveniles that have committed grave crimes should be charged as an adult. Although it is argued that their minds have not fully developed, it should not act as a reason to lessen their punishment. Minors should be able to differentiate between right and wrong, and must hold responsibility for their ultimate decision. Grave crimes that juveniles cause will also affect the victim’s family and friends.

For the past years there has been a debate on whether juveniles should be tried as life without parole or life with parole. In my opinion juveniles who commit first or second degree murder should not receive a mandatory sentence to life without parole. Although the juveniles are underage they are well informed of what’s right and what’s wrong, but some of them have difficulty understanding of what they are doing at the moment of the crime because they are angry and act before thinking clearly. I agree with the majority of supreme court justices who believe that mandatory life sentences are unconstitutional, unfair and inhumane because juveniles are immature, their brain is not completely developed, and they are unaware of long term impact

One of the alternatives is that it gives the juvenile a second chance to redeem themselves if they 're not tried as adults for their crimes. Instead of spending the rest of the child’s life in jail they can go into rehab and hopefully continue on to a better path. Life in jail as a minor is considered a cruel and unusual punishment because they are at higher risks of rape and sexual assault. Philip Holloway from CNN was taught that minors are more salvageable than adults. I slightly agree with that statement because children barely started living their lives and their brain is not fully developed unlike an adult where their brain is.

In the Article “Kids are kids-until they commit crimes” Published in the Sacramento Bee on March 1, 2001 Marie Lundstorm discusses how kids who are charged as adults, deserve to be sent to a juvenile court because after all they are still kids. Lundstorm argues that, “the bigger the crime, the more eager we are to call them adults. ”(5) I agree with Lundstorm, some teenagers who committed an insignificant crime are seen as adults when they should be looked as the teenager that they are. On the other hand, some teenagers never “grow up.”

Juveniles shouldn’t be sentenced to life without parole. A punishment must be needed but, being sentenced to life without parole at a young age is devastating. Why should they even continue to live? They are young and deserve a second chance to rehabilitate. All we do is just throw these kids in prison and forget about the.

In addition, in the article “Delinquent youth in corrections: Medicaid and reentry into the community,Gupta Ravindra talks about how the juvenile delinquent isn’t given mental help to be readmitted into the community. Thus leads to the assumption that

Although the actions of the students of the Sayreville hazing incident suggests that they thought and acted as adults, this incident of their high school careers should not be used to ruin their future in colleges and life. As most of the students who were involved in the hazing were minors, they could be tried in a juvenile court and have their records closed. According to the New York Times ‘s article on the matter, it stated “A conviction in adult court results in a criminal record, and generally, longer prison terms” (DOYNE). If the students were tried as adults, they could be faced with longer prison sentences and have a criminal record. But whether they are tried as adults or juveniles, teenagers convicted of sex crimes are required to register as sex offenders for at least 15 years (Michon).

This is a very harsh punishment especially for someone who did not commit a murder crime. Many people in prison that has commited a murder crime or second degree murder and is offer life with parole, which is not fair. Committing a crime does deserve some type of punishment but punishing a young child for life in prison is not fair. Yes, the child should be punished for the crime they committed but it should not be a curel punishment, but a reasonable punishment. Also, by a child being in prison at a young age will reduces the child from graduating high school or even college.