A new law was put in Massachusetts, saying anyone 14 or older accused of murder would be tried as an adult.
Last summer, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that mandatory sentences of life without parole for teens was unconstitutional. (1st source)
All but 5 states allow children of any age charged with murder be tried as adults. The death penalty isn't an option for people under 16.
Supreme Court said capital punishment isn't constitutional for someone who isn't at least 16 years old.
Recent studies show that the frontal, the front part of the brain, is a big part causing mischievous behavior.
It doesn't fully develop until you are 20 years old.
ABC news poll shows about 55 percent of Americans say the matter of the crime, not his or her age, should
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Many people believe that rehab could be the answer to all this.
A youth that gets released from an adult prison are less likely to commit a crime then being released from a juvenile center.
Children shouldn't be able to access gun or weapons anyway. Their parents should also be in deep trouble if they supply their kids with these such things. (2nd source)
Many people would say that in their lifetime, the second chance was the difference maker.
Depending on the situation and this may seem harsh, if you do the serious crime, you should do the serious time.
The U.S. juvenile system being kind of lenient, the teens are taking advantage of this and committing more crimes.
The juveniles will commit more serious crimes because they know that they can't be tried as adults in the court of law.
When the Juvenile System was created, it was meant for little things like shoplifting and vandalism.
If you think about it a teen could be involved in a crime, where it big or small, up to 15 times before they get caught or learn their lesson.
If minors were tried as adults for murder, it would crack down on the number of minors killing others and scare them to
Many think otherwise, but in reality and fairness, anyone, especially with proven murder should certainly be tried as an adult. The quote “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime” plays a decent role in this specific case. It’s simple, if you can’t bare being confined in prison, don’t do the causing action. Additionally, the fact stated “If juvenile
I also disagree with the fact that children lack maturity; to a certain level they do as well as some adults. There are some adults that never reached the age of maturity, but that does not mean that they should get a lesser time when committing a crime just because they are not mature. Lastly, I believe anyone is capable of being rehabilitated no matter what age they are; if they have the desire and are willing to put in the work to be reformed, then they should be given that option with strict stipulations (Flynn, E.H,
If the child committed a crime that can be tried as an adult, such as murder, should be punishable by law. In juvenile records/history, there were some that challenged the Juvenile System or even made some lawyers, judges, and maybe even juries questions some laws such as the Brandon McInerney case. The McInerney case was on February 12 that Brandon McInerney had brought his father’s handgun, which his father was, ex-military, to school and shot Lawrence King in the head twice. This did
An age requirement of 14 which is in most states is fair compared to others seeing some states allow minors to be tried at just the age of ten to be tried in an adult court. Most states have laws to protect adolescents from being tried as an adult. The article Children in Adult Prison written by EJI says “The law protects children younger than 14 since their brains are still developing. The average age that allows a minor to be tried as an adult is not fair and should be changed so we don't have to fill up adult prisons with kids that may still be in elementary
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
For example, juveniles are able to seek parole and not in prison for life if they did not commit a murder. Also, twenty-eight states are banned to mandate juveniles who have committed a murder to life without paroles sentence. In 2016, the Supreme Court also has decided that about two thousand juvenile inmates will be granted to be release. American juvenile justice is different from an adult justice system. In Lange’s report, a 10-year-old boy name Tristin Kurilla has murdered a 90-year-old woman after he got mad at her and lost control of his emotion and killed the woman.
In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that it is immoral to give juveniles life sentences, even if they commit a crime as serious as murder, because it is a cruel and unusual punishment. This has been an issue in America as teenagers are often treated as adults in court due to a belief that their crimes warrant a harsh punishment. Many believe that these kids should not be given such major sentences because they are still immature and do not have the self control that adults do. I agree that juveniles do not deserve life sentences because they put less thought and planning into these crimes and they often are less malicious than adults. The article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” explains that the teenagers lose brain tissue that is responsible for self control and impulses (Thompson 7).
I always thought juveniles who committed crimes would be tried for their age, but consequently, within the past few years more young teens have been tried as adults, and forced into life-long sentences and even in some cases, death row. In one case Stevenson worked with a young girl named Trina Garnett had been in a house fire and was blamed for ‘intentionally’ starting the fire. Within the trial, the Judge who was ruling the case declared Trina had no intent to kill. One thing Stevenson mentioned was that “Under Pennsylvania Law, the judge could not take the absence of intent into account during sentencing” (page 150). Trina was convicted of second-degree murder at age sixteen.
The criminal justice system was created in order to punish people who choose to break the law. Some people believe they are above the law and decided to do whatever they like regardless of the consequences. Children and adults are both responsible for the actions they commit. The criminal justice should tried children as adults for committing felonies because a crime is a crime regardless of the age of the individual. This can be fulfilled by punishing juvelives with the correct sentence, by seeing that they know their actions lead to consequence and they have the proper process for a teen to be tried as adult.
When people commit crimes, there should be disciplined no matter what. Juveniles need to learn that their behaviors have consequences. Why should kids be given any less of a punishment for committing the same crime? According to one author, “Taking a life is murder regardless of the age of the offender, and the penalties to be imposed must not discriminate. After all, the victim’s life will never be returned, and the family will permanently lose their loved one” (“7 Top Pros and Cons of Juveniles Being Tried As Adults”).
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.
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).
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.
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.
One reason why minors should not be treated the same as adults when committing crimes is that the consequences given to minors in adult court would have a negative impact on their life. One example is because prison may be an unsafe place for minors to rehabilitate in a way that they would be able to do