Bennett 1
Donald Bennett
Ms. Merchant
English IV, 1st hour
8th April 2014
I am here today to talk about the juvenile justice system and juvenile criminals in general. Currently in the United States, if a teen under 18 were to commit a violent crime of some kind, there would be a very fair chance that these teens would be let off pretty easily. Now I ask you, is that right? Is that fair to the victims? I say no, no it isn’t fair that a 16 year old could beat someone, steal from them, and only get a few months where as an adult would of had a much longer sentence. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for some mercy and compassion, there are times when rehabilitation is a great idea, preferably all the time but hey, it isn’t always like that.
If for some reason, a criminal felt a necessity to physically harm someone for their own gain or amusement, they should be considered dangerous and have punishment for their crimes. There have been many, many times where an adolescent has caused such pain and sadness, just to be let off with a slap on the wrist. I’m talking about murder here, accidental or otherwise, murder is murder no matter who or how old you are, and the fact they they practically get away with it because of their ages disgusts me. According to the justice department, about 10% of the homicides in the United States are committed by juveniles under 18. Want to see just how serious it gets? Every year the FBI has to
arrest more than 33,000 juveniles under 18 for various crimes, according to Huma Khan at http://Abcnews.com. That’s the FBI we’re talking about here, they tend to only c...
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...ing thoughts and statements. This entire paper has focused on justice, both for the young and the old, it has displayed my beliefs on the subject in an attempt to sway you over to my side. Truly, I thank you for your valuable time in reading this and hope that it has shed some light on the subjects and given you a better idea of the justice system.
I have to give credit where credit is due and here it is. I collected most of my information from various sites, my own personal opinions, and personal knowledge of juvenile law. Some of the information I’ve gotten came from an article on http://Abcnews.go.com by Khan, Huma. I have also gathered some of my information from a debate site called http://Debate.org in verious user commits and facts. The last source I used was from http://Teenink.com. I thank you for your time and hope this has been an informative paper.
“You are hereby sentenced to life without the possibility of parole”. These are the words that a juvenile in America is likely to hear. Collectively, as a nation, the United States has incarcerated more juveniles with life sentences than any other nation. With this fact the arguments arise that juveniles should not be punished the same was as an adult would be but, is that really how the justice system should work? To allow a juvenile who recently robbed a store only get a slap on the wrist? Not comprehending that there are consequences for their actions and how what they have done affects the victims.
The article titled “ Juvenile Justice from Both Sides of the Bench”, published by PBS, and written by Janet Tobias and Michael Martin informs readers on numerous judges’ opinions on the juveniles being tried as adults. Judge Thomas Edwards believed that juveniles should not be tried as adults because they are still not mature enough to see the consequences of their actions and have a chance to minimize this behavior through rehabilitation programs. Judge LaDoris Cordell argues that although we shouldn’t give up on juveniles and instead help them be a part of society, however, she believes that some sophisticated teens that create horrible crimes should be tried as adults. Bridgett Jones claims that teens think differently than adults and still
The Juvenile Justice system, since its conception over a century ago, has been one at conflict with itself. Originally conceived as a fatherly entity intervening into the lives of the troubled urban youths, it has since been transformed into a rigid and adversarial arena restrained by the demands of personal liberty and due process. The nature of a juvenile's experience within the juvenile justice system has come almost full circle from being treated as an adult, then as an unaccountable child, now almost as an adult once more.
Heinous crimes are considered brutal and common among adults who commit these crimes, but among children with a young age, it is something that is now being counted for an adult trial and punishable with life sentencing. Although some people agree with this decision being made by judges, It is my foremost belief that juveniles don’t deserve to be given life sentencing without being given a chance at rehabilitation. If this goes on there’s no point in even having a juvenile system if children are not being rehabilitated and just being sent off to prison for the rest of their lives and having no chance getting an education or future. Gail Garinger’s article “ juveniles Don’t deserve Life sentence”, written March 14, 2012 and published by New york Times, mentions that “ Nationwide, 79 adolescents have been sentenced to die in prison-a sentence not imposed on children anywhere else in the world. These children were told that they could never change and that no one cared what became of them. They were denied access to education and rehabilitation programs and left without help or hope”. I myself know what it’s like to be in a situation like that, and i also know that people are capable of changing even children when they are young and still growing.
Serious crimes such as murder, burglary and rape have raised questions as to whether the young offenders should face severe punitive treatment or the normal punitive measures in juvenile courts. Many would prefer the juveniles given harsh punishment in order to discourage other young people from engaging in similar activities and to serve as a lesson to these particular offenders. However, results from previous studies indicate such punitive measures were neither successful nor morally acceptable. Instead, the solutions achieved have unfairly treated the youths and compromised the society status (Kristin, page 1).
The book “No Matter How Loud I Shout” written by Edward Humes, looks at numerous major conflicts within the juvenile court system. There is a need for the juvenile system to rehabilitate the children away from their lives of crime, but it also needs to protect the public from the most violent and dangerous of its juveniles, causing one primary conflict. Further conflict arises with how the court is able to administer proper treatment or punishment and the rights of the child too due process. The final key issue is between those that call for a complete overhaul of the system, and the others who think it should just be taken apart. On both sides there is strong reasoning that supports each of their views, causing a lot of debate about the juvenile court system.
In 1899, the nation’s first juvenile court for youth under the age of 16 was established in Chicago to provide rehabilitation rather than punishment. By 1925, following the Chicago model, all but two states had juvenile courts whose goals were to turn youth into productive citizens utilizing treatment that included warnings, probation, and training school confinement(Cox et al. 2014, p.2). Treatment lasted until the child was “cured” or turned 21. Although judges spoke with the offending children and decided upon the punishment, the lack of established rules and poor rehabilitation led to unfair treatment. In 1967 “ U.S. Supreme Court case of In re Gault held that juveniles were entitled to the same constitutional due process rights as adults, beginning a national reform in juvenile justice and the system was repaired to afford children many of the same rights that adults have in court” (Cox et al. 2014, p.4). Also, state legislatures passed laws to crack down on juvenile crime, as recently, states have attempted strike a balance in their approach to juvenile justice systems as research suggests that locking youth away in large, secure juvenile facilities is ineffective treatment towards different genders in which it doesn’t provide appropriate rehabilitation.
A deep look into juveniles in adult prisons. Touch bases on several smaller issues that contribute to juveniles being in and effects of adult prisons. The United States Bureau of Prisons handles two hundred and thirty-nine juveniles and their average age is seventeen. Execution of juveniles, The United States is one of only six countries to execute juveniles. There are sixty-eight juveniles sitting on death row for crimes committed as juveniles. Forty-three of those inmates are minorities. People, who are too young to vote, drink alcohol, or drive are held to the same standard of responsibility as adults. In prisons, they argue that the juveniles become targets of older, more hardened criminals. Brian Stevenson, Director of the Alabama Capital Resource Center said, “We have totally given up in the idea of reform of rehabilitation for the very young. We are basically saying we will throw those kids away. Leading To Prison Juvenile Justice Bulletin Report shows that two-thirds of juveniles apprehended for violent offenses were released or put on probation. Only slightly more than one-third of youths charged with homicide was transferred to adult criminal court. Little more than one out of every one hundred New York youths arrested for muggings, beatings, rape and murder ended up in a correctional institution. Another report showed a delinquent boy has to be arrested on average thirteen times before the court will act more restrictive than probation. Laws began changing as early as 1978 in New York to try juveniles over 12 who commit violent crimes as adults did. However, even since the laws changed only twenty percent of serious offenders served any time. The decision of whether to waive a juven...
Federal standards define any young offender under the age of eighteen who commits a crime is define as a juvenile delinquent. And the important differences between adults and young people, that a one-size fits all method is not desirable and will not make the situation better. Our justice system also accomplishes an important symbolic function by establishing principles of behavior. It formally defines the right and wrong for citizens and frees them from the responsibility of taking vengeance, thus avoiding the escalation of feuds within communities. The system protects the rights of free citizens by honoring the belief that individual freedom should not be denied without good cause.
Different articles state different facts on why juveniles should stay in prison and others disagree because they feel that if they get released and put into rehabilitation, their lives will better for the future. For people that have never been to prison, it is hard in their perspective to understand how one suffers being locked up with no freedom and without having as many rights as any other man or woman have. If people had the chance to talk to former delinquents that now live a good lifestyle, there would be a chance that non-criminals would understand that people can change when they come out of prison. The juvenile justice system should put a satisfying sentence for juveniles and should keep punishing other delinquents in a matter that is not cruel and would be fair enough until they feel like they have learned their
...n conclusion, like most things in the law there is no clear answer. There is no one-size-fits all solution for how to treat juvenile offenders. Even that term, “juvenile offender” contains a spectrum that includes the most minor misdemeanor and the most egregious sexual crimes. The Supreme Court has participated in this debate and voiced its approval of treatment and rehabilitation over punishment in the interest of public safety. The court, however, has also left the possibility of the states to hold juveniles to a higher (adult) standard on a case-by-case basis. This seems to me to be the best way to balance the obvious benefits of rehabilitative efforts and the interest of public safety. The best example I could find of a state who balances these two interests well is Oklahoma. The primary statutory goal of the Oklahoma Juvenile Code is to promote public safety.
It is expected that at a young age, children are taught the difference between what is right and what is wrong in all types of situations. The majority of Supreme Court Justices abolished mandatory life in prison for juveniles that commit heinous crimes, argued this with the consideration of age immaturity, impetuosity, and also negative family and home environments. These violent crimes can be defined as murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault and the like depending on state law. With these monstrous acts in mind the supreme court justices argument could be proven otherwise through capability and accountability, the underdevelopment of the teenage brain and the severity of the crime. Juveniles commit heinous crimes just like adults
In most states juvenile delinquency are criminal acts committed by minors’ ages 10 to 18 years old, the crimes are categorized as status offenders or delinquent offenders. Offenses committed by status offenders can only be committed because the offender is a minor, such as running away from home, truancy and underage drinking. (Mooney, pg 115) then there are delinquent offenders whose offenses would be a crime if they were committed by an adult. Depending on the nature of the crime, minors are tried in a juvenile justice system or can be transferred to the adult justice system. According to the Campaign for Youth Justice, it is estimated 1.7 million youths are in the juvenile justice system with 100,000 cases being heard in juvenile court annually. Currently, it is estimated that 70% of the youths arrested are boys and 30% are girls, although African-Americans make up only 17% of the total youth population, they are 30% more likely than white youth to face harsher sentences and be transferred into the adult
The dilemma of juvenile incarceration is a problem that thankfully has been declining, but still continues to be an ethical issue. The de-incarceration trend has coincided with a decrease in crime. It is hopeful that our nation is changing the approach to the treatment of juveniles in the criminal justice system. It means we know what to do and what is working, now just to follow through and continue the change to creating a juvenile justice system that is truly rehabilitative and gives youth tools to be able to be positive members of
“Juvenile Justice and Injustice” New York, New York Margaret O. Hyde, 1977. Johnson, Jason B. Slain Teen’s family: Cops eyeing 7-10 suspects.” Boston Herald. 7 April 1995 Olney, Ross R. Up Against The Law. New York, New York: NAL Penguin Inc., 1985.