What is ethical to try the youth as an adult? In my personal opinion, I think juveniles should not be tried as an adult. However, in most cases, it is up to the court system to determine if the juvenile should be tried as an adult or not based on the specific circumstances and the severity of the crime committed. I believed that juveniles are not fully capable to understand their actions and should be given an opportunity to rehabilitate instead of being punished as adults.
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.
According to “Kids in Prison” by Brian Hansen, juveniles are being tried as adults for violent and non-violent crimes. Kids being tried as adult is the most controversial topic the world cannot agree on today. It is hard to pick one side due to every case being a different situation, but I think I have established a well-thought opinion. Children should not be tried as adults due to their level of cognitive capability, proneness to harm in adult prisons, and their inability to be rehabilitated in a harmful environment. First, a child’s cognitive thinking is at a different level than an adult’s, so a child does not have the means to survive in an adult prison.
Juveniles take up a large percentage of prisons in the U.S. every year with some having long adult sentences. According to njjn.org 250,000 juniors under the age of 18 are charged in an adult court and sentenced to prison with an adult sentence. Many states still allow kids as young as ten to be tried in an adult court with a jury rather than be in a juvenile court without one. Adult prison sentences are too harsh for juveniles. There are many different crimes that can put a junior in an adult court.
The Supreme Court ruled that the eighth amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment means that juvenile offenders who haven't been convicted of murder shouldn't be sentenced to life in prison without any chance of parole. Some say that juvenile offenders who commit heinous crimes should receive the same consequences as adults. However, it could also be argued that it is unjust for minors to face the same consequences as adults, when they are not alloted with the same privileges as adults. Adolescents are not allowed to drink, drive, or get married. Minors are not given such privileges because many of them do not have the life experience to consistently make well-processed decisions.
In the document “Because The Consequences Aren’t Minor” by the nonprofit Campaign For Youth Justice, it describes that attorneys fue cases in adult criminal court for minors ages 14 or older. In addition they have a judicial waiver which is known as “fitness hearing” to be able to determine if they are fit or unfit and be tried as an adult ( Campaign For Youth Justice 2 & 3). The judge or attorney do not just simply decide if the juvenile should be tried as an adult, there is a process in which they must commence according to the Proposition 21. This also depends on the severity of the crime. According to the Ohio State Bar Association, the be able to required to trialed as adult you must be convicted of a felony and you need to be under the age of 18 (www.ohiobar.org).
Juveniles should be tried as adults with life without parole but only in certain cases: depending on their motive or modus operandi, their crime, and criminal background. Motivation Scandalous kids who commit crimes for unreasonable motives should most definitely have life without the possibility of parole. In some cases, they’re just doing what they think is best. Jacob Ind, a 15 year old from Colorado, was beaten and sexually molested by his step father. His mother abused him as well.
Juvenile Justice Essay In the United States, there have been many cases where a juvenile would be found guilty and be tried as an adult. There are other cases where those juveniles are tried as adult forever. I am against charging juveniles as adults when they commit violent crimes, the juveniles lose many educational opportunities and the adult system is far too dangerous for the young juveniles. Juveniles are also young kids but only the fact that they do not get the same amount of education or experience that other teens gain.
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 are not met, convicts will have to complete the remainder of their sentence. 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.
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 have been many times over the years where a child commits a crime and they either get the punishment of a child or they get the punishment of an adult depending on their age, or depending on what the crime they committed was. If you send a child to adult prison it is a lot more harsh than juve so they have to be kept from the other inmates because it is too dangerous for them to be around them. The children transferred to criminal court were less likely to commit the same crime than those who went through the juvenile system. The children who re offended offended sooner and more often than the children who were tried in the juvenile court. In some states if the child is convicted in criminal court they can plead insanity and get out of the of the sentence they would be facing.
Juveniles should be convicted as adults for violent crimes because it is not fair for juveniles to commit big crimes and get away with it so easily. If they want to act like adults, they should be treated. 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.
As adults or as juveniles, according to how serious is the crime they committed. There are many court cases that involve teens that are thirteen and fourteen being charged as adults for heinous crimes they have committed.
Juvenile crimes can range from status offences to property crime and violent crime. Murder, forcible
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.
