President Mark Soler of the Washington, D.C., Youth Law Center points out that adolescents/children are required by law to be incarcerated separately from adults. However, the overwhelmed juvenile justice system lets the adult criminal justice system handle many youth offenders. This causes numerous negative effects for convicted juveniles. The law recognizes that adolescents/children are less equipped to make important decisions than adults are. Yet the law fails to distinguish between adolescents/children and adults when it comes to spending the rest of their lives in prison for crimes they have committed before their 18th birthday.
Youth that hang around people their age that are making bad choices and not abiding the law will involve in crimes with friends who are doing the same. Their environment can cause them to act out in negative ways, the lack of positive adults, abuse and neglect, and too much idle time and not enough planned activities. Children should not be tried as adults. “The United States Supreme Court has ruled that there are limitations on the punishment juveniles can receive even when they are tried in adult court. The law considers youth crimes to be less culpable than adult, therefore juvenile punishment should not be as severe as those available for adults, even for the exact same crime.” The punishment of a 14 year old, Arkansas teenager who wasn’t the triggerman at a video rental store that he and his robbed was fair.
Isabel Kelley CRJ Juvenile Offenders Juveniles committing unlawful acts fall into one of the following categories, depending mostly on the nature of the conduct involved: Delinquents, Petty offenders, Juvenile traffic offenders, Juveniles certified to adult court, Extended jurisdiction juveniles and Juveniles age 16 and older accused of first-degree murder. Delinquents is a individuals under the age of 18 who commit acts which would be unlawful if committed by an adult, except for certain designated offenses and all petty offenses. An individual subject to a delinquency hearing is entitled to effective assistance of counsel. Cases involving children under the age of ten who are alleged to have committed an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult are handled as civil CHIPS (children in need of protection or services) hearings. Petty offenders are children who engage in conduct which is unlawful for them but not unlawful for adults, such as violating curfew, drinking, and smoking.
Assessing the effectiveness of the criminal justice system when dealing with young offenders in relation to the source SMH. The Criminal Justice System subjects children to the same criminal law as it does adults. However, they are treated differently as that, there is a certain age at which it is believed to be that the child is too young to cause criminal intent. This age limit in NSW is ten years old. It is believed that at this age the child is unable to possess Mens Rea, this is referred to as Doli Incapax.
Minors and Crime Serving adult time Angela Thomas Strayer University Minors and crimes Accountability is the word that needs to be used when it comes to minors who commit crimes. There are countless crimes being committed by minors of today. Crimes like burglary, robbery, rape, assault and murders just to name a few. These minors will grow to be the adults of tomorrow, so there has to be a better solution to this problem that society is facing when it comes to minors who commit crimes. What is a suitable sentence for these minors?
By Jamie Makey 9/18/13 Juveniles think, act, and understand life differently than adults. Juveniles respond differently to circumstances in their lives. Juveniles do not have the same rights and responsibilities that adults have. They often are not mature enough to understand the consequences of their actions. The law does recognize these differences, but, a Juvenile, like an adult, makes the choice to commit a crime or not.
Simply stated, youths should know better than what they are doing in society today. Yes, everyone makes mistakes; it is inevitable. On the other hand, it is common that once someone makes a mistake, that person becomes more cautious of his/her behaviours; conversely, youths are doing the opposite. The YCJA is too soft on youths who know full well the meaning of their
(12) One may argue that fourteen years is too young for one to be tried as an adult. In “Many Kids Called Unfit for Adult Trial…,” Greg Krikorian presents information regarding competence of juveniles’ and their understanding of the severity of their crimes mostly between the ages of eleven and fifteen. (1) A majority of people in today’s society would believe that trying minors as adults is too harsh of a punishment because, as Lundstrom states in her article, “Kids are Kids,” that “they’re only kids,” (4) and “they are not adults.” (15) But multiple people have proven that children do have enough common sense to understand the austerity of their crimes. For instance, in Adam Liptak’s article, “Renee Magee, who prosecuted Mr. Acuna, now 18, agreed that his behavior at the trial had alienated the jury. ‘He was very nonchalant,’ Ms. Magee said, ‘He laughed at inappropriate things.’” (5) Mr. Acuna understood the court and was entertained by his sick and highly disturbing action; the murdering of his elderly
Treatment can not only help a juvenile offender get past the actions that caused him/her to be an offender in the first place but also can help the juvenile from repeating the same mistake again. There are many different treatment options available for juveniles I believe the decision should be based on the nature of the crime that they committed. A juvenile delinquent crime where I live, which is the state of New Jersey, is considered anyone under the age of 17 that commits a crime. There are many different types of crimes in the United States and outside of the more serious ones such as murder and rape. Smaller crimes by juveniles can be tough to judge because they can be based on so many different factors.
Should juveniles who have been physically, mentally, and sexually abused be handed adult sentences for retaliating? We need to look at exactly what influences children to commit heinous crimes. Mentally ill patients should be cared for as mentally ill patients, not criminal offenders. The mentally ill need an alternative to the prison system. Justice has evolved a great deal, especially when the death penalty is involved.