The age of the offenders continually decreases, and the brutality of the crimes seems to be increasing. Cameron Williams, age sixteen, celebrated his 16th birthday behind bars (Khan). This young man had been convicted of shooting a police officer who was chasing him around after he had been pulled over by the officer. Williams previously had charges of robbery and assault, also. “Even though he is a minor, Williams was charged in an adult court because of his troublesome history and the "serious nature of the crime," the county attorney's office said. (Khan). Brenda Beadle, chief officer of the county, made a statement saying, “Anybody who pulls a gun and aims it at a police officer is a very serious threat, and I would consider him a very dangerous individual.” (Khan). Williams, being tried as adult, added fuel to the fire of the big debate whether juveniles should be tried as adults. The Justice Department estimates that about 10 percent of all homicides are committed by youths under the age of 18. About every year the FBI will arrest more than 33,000 young adults for offenses. This number is too high. America should not have this many juveniles acting out and committing horrific acts. Trying these adolescents in adult court should instill fear in them, and hopefully make them think of the consequences before they act out. “The number of violent crimes committed by young people declined
In Paul Thompson’s article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” the author talks about how that teenagers who committed crimes should not be treated as adults in the legal system.
The Juveniles are kids not adults and that they don’t have the same brain development as adults do. In the article, “Starting finds on Teenage Brains” by Paul Thompson saying that during this time of period in teenagers be having massive loss of brain tissue. It is believed that the massive brain loss tissue supports all teens thinking and emotions. It also says, “Brain cells and connections are only being lost in areas controlling impulses, risk taking and self control.” The frontal tubes can hinder the violent passions, rash actions, and regulate teens emotions throughout the years. Meaning that teenagers aren’t adults yet. Another reason why teens shouldn’t be charge as an adult is because teens commit crimes without thinking what they are doing and they’re still kids. Teenagers make mistakes because they are young and stupid. Some of the teenagers don’t deserve to go to jail and get charge as an adult. For example, Nathaniel Brazill was 13 years old when he was guilty of shooting a middle school and charged with second degree murder. He says that he made a “stupid mistake” but was convicted of second degree murder not first. In the article, “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” it says that, “a child is not a man.” Meaning that a child shouldn 't be getting treated as an adult no they
Paul Thompson in the article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” , claims that 14 year old Brazil, charged in last May’s shooting of middle school teacher Gunrow, was found guilty of second degree murder. Paul Thompson supports his by first explaining that Brazil was only 12 when the incident happen. He then says since he was only 12 , his brain was and still is not fully developed. Lastly the author says ,” teenagers are not yet adults , and the legal system shouldn’t treat them as such. Thompson’s purpose is to get the world to know , if children are not yet adults, why are they being treated like one in the legal system in order to stop it. The author writes in a serious tone for everyone. This work is significant because i really do agree
“Juvenile Justice: Too Young for Life in Prison?” by HUMA KHAN shares the story of Cameron William who faces up to 110 years in prison for second degree-murder. William shot at a police officer in Omaha Nebraska and was also charged with robbery and assault in another County (Khan 1). William is shown to have a record of felonies, as a result, he was tried as an adult and idicited. Teens who go to prison throw their life away at a young age but their is no excuse for murder. These people are criminals who happen to be young. Chief Deputy Brenda Beadle states “Anyone who pulls a gun and aim it at an officer is a very serious threat and I would consider him a very dangerous individual”. Veterans on the force such as Brenda Beatle argue the danger teens just like adults can pose to their communities. Therefore teens charged with felonies should be tried as adults.
In the article “On Punishment and Teen Killers” published by the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange on Aug 2,2011 the author, Jennifer Jenkins, points out how teen killers should be tried as adults for crimes committed at an adult level. Jenkins states that “... I understand how hard it is to accept the reality that a 16 or 17 year old is capable of forming such requisite criminal intent.” If a the teen intended to kill someone then they should be locked up, but if that was not the intention then they should get the help necessary instead of being locked
The article “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentences” argues that children in prison need to be given a chance to mature and be rehabilitated (Garinger 9). Because these killers likely committed these crimes on impulse, they would often realize after the fact that they were wrong to do such an action. Therefore, when they are released, they will be more careful and think about their actions before committing. If they are given a life sentence, they will never be given this chance to fix their life. Older people who commit murders are less likely to learn from their mistakes since they put more thought into the killing than adolescents
People have long argued that juveniles who commit a murder should not be tried as an adult due the juvenile not being aware of their crime. Awareness, as defined by the Webster Dictionary, is “the knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists”. Having the perception to comprehend the occurrence of an event is not a dumbfounded characteristic. Therefore, when a person argues that a juvenile was not aware of their crime is a discrediting claim. In 1990 in the city of Chicago, a couple expecting their first child were murdered in cold blood in the hands of a juvenile teen. The teen shot both the husband and the wife who pleaded for their lives and the life of their unborn child. Author of “Juvenile Justice Information Exchange”, Jennifer Jenkins states, “He reported to a friend, who testified at his trial, about his ‘thrill kill’ that he just wanted to ‘see what it would feel like to shoot someone’”. This killer was aware of his crime and was aware of who his victims were due to planning the murders months before. Brain chemistry or brain growth did not
Many people have disregarded the fact that children too can commit despicable crimes; crimes that not even adults would think about committing. Juveniles have had their era in in being able to manipulating courts to give them a lighter sentences for their so-called “mistakes”. These juveniles have made puerile excuses to try and exonerate their actions by blaming their impulses, rather than taking accountability for them. Juveniles should be tried as adults due to being aware of their crimes and having an intention to kill, however, brain development and maturity can play a role into the reason why teens kill. With being tried as an adult juveniles should be granted the opportunity of freedom pending on their rehabilitation status and if requirements
Even children have the capability to act and think the way as an adult would. Juveniles need to be held accountable for their actions because it was their actions that caused for them to be put in such a situation. 13 year old Derek King and his 12 year old brother, Alex, were being charged of bludgeoning their father, Terry King, to death. In the book, “Angels of Death,” by Gary C. King stated, “I hit him once and then I heard him moan and then I was afraid that he might wake up and see us, so I just kept on hitting him...I threw the bat on the bed, lit the bed on fire because I was scared of the [evidence] and everything. Scared of getting caught…” (41-43). Just because these boys were young does not make it acceptable for them to not be punished for their actions. They clearly knew that they were gonna perform this act and had an attempt to get rid of what they did. These boys thought as adult would understanding that if they were caught they would be in severe trouble. In order to prevent that from happening they wanted to get rid of what might have been used against
In the article, “Greg Ousley Is Sorry for Killing Parents. Is That Enough?” Scott Anderson exemplifies that juveniles may be living in a toxic home environment, which leads to potential murder. In “Juveniles Don’t Deserve Life Sentence,” Garinger speaks about juveniles that are mistreated and were subject to life without parole sentences. Lastly, the article that also justifies that juvenile justice is solidified would be, “Report: Juvenile justice system schools “do more harm than good,” Frey argues that the juvenile system may be harmful, in that some juveniles suffer from disabilities and behavioral issues. Based on strong textual evidence and corresponding research it is clear that mandatory life sentence for juveniles who commit murder is unfair because juveniles are immature, cannot remove themselves from a toxic home environment, and is
Childress, S. (2016, June 2). More States Consider Raising the Age for Juvenile Crime. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/more-states-consider-raising-the-age-for-juvenile-crime/
Some teens commit crimes and don't have a really good excuse on why they do it. In the article “On Punishment and Teen Killers” by Jennifer Jenkins she explains how the teenager that killed her sister, husband and her unborn child excuse of killing them was that he just wanted to “see what it would feel like to shoot someone”, which is no good excuse for what he did to this family. Another example from Jennifer's Jenkins article she states how “undeveloped brain” has nothing to do with teens committing these crimes. If an “undeveloped brain” was the case then teens would kill at roughly the same rates all over the world, which is not. Some of these teens think they can get away with some of these crimes which leads to commit more. In Jennifer's article she explains one of her case with a serial killer. His parents will fix everything whenever he got in trouble. After series of other
When children and teens commit a violent crime such as murder, courts convict them as adults. This means that children as young as eight have been tried as adults in court. Eventually, these convicts will be housed in jails with adults. Despite the federal law stating that juvenile and adult inmates must be separated, most states do not comply with these rules. Furthermore, a law that varies throughout the states is the age in which courts send the children to adult or juvenile prisons. These cutoffs range from 7 to 14 years old. At any rate, the current situation is one that has sparked many moral and ethical beliefs to surface, resulting in debates that have yet to be resolved. Children who commit violent crimes should not be tried as adults, because proper educational services are typically not affordable, children are more susceptible to harming themselves
Those in favor of trying juveniles as adults believe that it deters and minimizes crimes being committing by all minors. That trying juveniles as adults will bring the greatest good to the most amount of people. According to an article posted by the American Bar Association by Nicole Scialabba, “the increase in laws that allow more juveniles to be prosecuted in adult court rather than juvenile court was intended to serve as a deterrent for rising youth violent crime.” It is no secret that youth commit crimes in our society. In 2014, law enforcement agencies in the U.S. made an estimated 1 million arrests of persons under age 18 (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention). It is debated that juveniles are committing more serious and violent crimes because the youth think they can get off easy and take advantage of the system put in place. Those in favor of youth offenders being tried as adults believe that as juveniles are punished to the full extent of the law, future youth offender will think twice before committing a criminal act. In support of this, seventy-five percent of the transferred juveniles interviewed by Redding and Fuller (2004) felt that their experiences in the adult criminal justice system had taught them the serious consequences of committing crimes. As one juvenile explained, “[Being tried as an adult] showed me it’s not a game anymore. Before, I thought that since I’m a juvenile I could do just about anything and just get 6 months if I got