Being charged with a crime is a serious matter, regardless of whether you are an adult or juvenile. There are some major differences, however, between adult and juvenile case proceedings. Below, a juvenile delinquency attorney from The Law Office of Gregory G. St. John, LLC in Waterbury, CT discusses the procedural differences between adult and juvenile court.
Who Is a Juvenile?
The definition of a juvenile varies from state to state. In the state of Connecticut, Juvenile Courts see cases for children under the age of 18. However, depending on the severity of the crime, older juveniles can be tried as adults.
Court Proceedings
Whereas an adult is charged with a crime, a juvenile is typically charged with a delinquent act. This is done to
Many other teenagers have committed crimes. The most common are: theft/larceny, vandalism, alcohol offenses, etc. Depending on the severity of the crime committed by these youngsters they could be tried as an adult. If they are tried as an adult there has been cases where kids 16, and at the youngest recorded 14, years of age
This particular article talks about a Connecticut Governor by the name of Dannel P. Malloy wanting to get the state approved to consider treating young offenders as juveniles until they are twenty-one. Mistrett made a comment stating, “Here they go asking for 21. It makes sense, it aligns with what brain science tells us and I think it 's a good path forward” (Mistrett). It seems like she agrees with what Malloy is trying to get across to the state, but young offenders should have that psychological sense to want to stop committing crimes before things get worse. The adult age starts at eighteen and continues on; sometimes, you have to consider a young offender as an adult depending on what crime was committed.
Merriam-Webster defines juvenile as physiologically immature or undeveloped or young. While the legal definition of juvenile is typically someone under the age of eighteen. I believe these definitions vary greatly. In these cases a seventeen year old is going to be more mature and know what they are doing in a criminal sense, when twelve year old may not.
Kids ranging from 8-15 years are tried as a juvenile and to transfer the case into adult court, they would fill out an application to do so. Kids committing crimes such as armed robbery, rape, or even murder should be tried as an adult. This type of allegation will not go unseen just because he/ she is a child. Even though these criminals are children, they will not or should not be exempt from the law or juvenile justice system.
1. Do children/juvenile have the capacity to understand the consequences of their crimes? Are the children/ juveniles able to be rehabilitated? Answer: Juveniles are between the ages of fifteen years and seventeen years of age. So, no they should not be tried as an adult because they are not eighteen years of age.
In the United States the justice system involves both the criminal and the juvenile justice system. Juvenile justice system is particularly for children below 18 years of age, while the criminal justice system is for the adults as described by Steinberg, Laurence, and Scott (1009). In the juvenile and criminal justice systems, both individuals are covered by privileges against self-incrimination though are treated differently in custody. For the juvenile offender, a crime committed is generally viewed delinquent, that is the child is neglectful of misdeeds.
Juvenile court is “a court of law responsible for the trial or legal supervision of children under a specified age”. In the United States, anyone under the age of eighteen is considered a juvenile, but, depending on the severity of the crime, anyone above the age of fourteen can be tried as an adult, or in criminal court. Juvenile Justice is “the area of criminal law applicable to persons not old enough to be held responsible for criminal acts”. The last term that I will explain is the term “delinquent”. By this term, I mean “(typically of a young person or that person's behavior) showing or characterized by a tendency to commit crime, particularly minor
Minors can either be tried as a minor which is dealt with the juvenile court or as an adult which is dealt with the adult court system. The charge of the juvenile depends on the child’s age and what the crime was that they committed. In the article, “Tried as an Adult, Housed as a Juvenile: A Tale of Youth from Two Courts Incarcerated Together,” states, “It is argued that minors transferred to criminal court should not be incarcerated with adults, due to a greater likelihood of developing criminal skills, being victimized, and attempting suicide” (Bechtold 126). Marin was a minor when he murdered his neighbor, but is now an adult and should be charged as an adult.
A Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted a study in 40 of the nation’s largest urban communities. “It was found that an estimated 7,100 juvenile defendants were charged with felonies in adult criminal court in 1998. Of these 40 county criminal courts, juveniles were 64% more likely than adults to be charged with a violent felony. These juvenile defendants were generally treated as serious offenders, as 52% did not receive pretrial release, 63% were convicted of a felony, and 43% of those convicted received a prison sentence. States have expanded the mechanisms by which juveniles can be charged in criminal courts.
In our society, crimes are being committed not only by adults but by juveniles as well. By law as soon as a person turns 18 they are considered to be an adult. So what if an adult and a juvenile were to commit the same crime yet were sentenced differently simply based on the fact that one is a child and one is an adult? Juveniles are committing violent crimes just as adults and should be given the equal treatment and sentencing as adults receive. Juveniles aren’t completely ignorant as everyone seems to think.
There are five ways in which a juvenile can be prosecuted in adult court. One way is through a judicial wavier, this is allowed in most states, where judges have the discretion to have a youth’s case tried in the adult criminal court. The second way is through statutory exclusion, twenty-nine states automatically require a juveniles’ case to be tried in the adult court based on the age of the youth and/or the alleged crime. The other three ways are allowed in fewer states and include direct file or “prosecutorial discretion” where juvenile court judges the decision to have a youth 's case tried in the adult criminal court. There also mandatory waivers in few states which require juvenile court judges to automatically transfer a youth 's case to adult criminal court for certain offenses or because of the age or prior record of the offender.
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.
Juvenile Justice Should juveniles get treated as adults that’s one of the biggest controversy in our nation now days, with many juveniles committing crimes that are inconceivable according to their age. Judges have the last word on how to treat this young people. Many people argue that “the teens that are under eighteen are only kids, they won’t count them as young adults, not until they commit crimes. And the bigger the crime, the more eager this people are to call them adults” (Lundstrom 87). This is why people can’t come to a decision as how these young people should be treated like.
In my opinion, I think that juveniles should be prosecuted as adults depending on the type of criminal offense that he or she commits. If a juvenile commit petty crimes such as petty theft, disorderly conduct, vandalism, etc. then I think that they should be tried in juvenile court. However, if a juvenile commit any of the seven deadly sin in criminal justice then they should be prosecuted as an adult. The seven deadly sin include: Murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated battery, aggravated sodomy, and aggravated child molestation.
Can you imagine waking up behind closed walls and bars? Waking up to see your inmate who is a 45-year-old bank robber and you are a 14-year-old minor who made a big mistake. This is why minors who have committed crimes should not be treated the same as adults. Some reasons are because the consequences given to minors in adult court would impact a minor’s life in a negative way. If a minor is tried through a juvenile court, they have a greater chance of rehabilitation.