3. The families of victims should be considered and be allowed closure and justice for their loss. My position is that teenagers who commit murder, especially heinous murders, should be tried as adults. Teenagers should really think twice because I really don’t believe that our brain development has anything to do with it. Because if you can be sexually active at 16 or at younger age you know
Speaker number 2 stated, and I quote, “Juveniles are well aware of the actions they make and should be tried as adults for their heinous crimes.” end quote. However, this quote is not entirely accurate. My research shows that although juveniles may be aware of the actions they are making, they are not mentally capable of reasoning and making critical choices. Children are not typically ready to make choices that will effect their eternal life on earth. According to Dr. Mark Wellek, an Arizona psychiatrist and past president of the American Society of Adolescent Psychiatry, “The last areas of the brain to mature and fully develop are those
This segregation is being put into effect in order to prevent juveniles from being sexually or physically assaulted and to prevent more dangerous juveniles from injuring the current adult inmates. Another reason why more juveniles should be tried as adults is because detention centers do not provide the offender with a harsh enough reality of their actions. Such was the case with and kid named Shawn. On Christmas night 1998, the sixteen year old attacked and repeatedly stabbed his father with a knife while he slept. Shawn’s home life seemed to be the reasoning behind the brutal crime since it had recently been disrupted by his habitual marijuana use, his recent expulsion from school, and arrest for strong arm robbery.
What makes an adolescent into a man? Growing up I was taught that what makes you a man is being responsible, showing maturity and having good judgment. According to the United States Government, being an adult is the complete opposite. Minors who have committed crimes which show their immaturity are being tried as adults. It is unethical for minors to be tried as adults because the government has already set the age of eighteen as the age where we are seen as adults, the adolescent brain is not fully developed, and it will ruin the adolescents future to try them as adults before the age of eighteen.
They believe that it violates the eighth amendment, ban on cruel and unusual punishment. You never know what the child's home environment is, so maybe that is why they perform these actions. Juveniles should not be sentenced to life in prison for committing murder because their brain is not fully developed. From the ages of eighteen and twenty five
Vanessa Rodriguez Ms.Lockhart Research Paper Period 2 December 4, 2012 Juvenile Justice Essay It has been said that trying adolescents as adults is unfair and unjust. The “adolescent-as-child” view contends that adolescents are by nature substantially different from adults, and as such, separate legal rights and standards should be applied to address the differences of each age group. To understand the unfairness for trying teens as adults can be seen in past court cases. Also a kids age and intelligence impacts their defence in court. When a teen is being tried for accused crimes in which they are going to court for are judged in an unfair manner that results in their prison sentences.
I will also incorporate the views of people who oppose trying juveniles as adults and their reasons for this. If a juvenile is old enough to commit a serious crime, then he or she is old enough to face serious consequences. First, criminologists who deal with juveniles believe poverty, family factors, the environment, media influence, and declining social morality are the main reasons for juvenile crime. It is considered out-dated to say that poverty causes crime, but nearly 22% of children under the age of eighteen live in poverty. Disorganization, dilapidation, deterioration, and despair are all associated with social isolation and economic stress, which are two main factors of poverty (O’Connor, 2004).
Due to the alarming rate of individuals behind bars for being under the influence, drugs or alcohol, there would be no systematic way to gauge its success. One of the biggest arguments surrounding capital punishment is that it can be a deterrent to crime. By definition it is “a goal of criminal sentencing which seeks to prevent others from committing crimes similar to the one for which an offender is being sentenced” (Schamalleger 355). There has been little evidence produced to show that intimidating a potential murderer with the chance to be executed will dissuade the senseless act of homicide. In fact, most murders comprise of people who know one another.
A kid is no longer a kid when he is able to just to act upon his thoughts of killing someone. Juveniles offenders that are committed a crime should be tried as adults if only due to murder or hurting someone physically, if the offenders have the mind enough to take someone’s life, then they also have the mind enough to set in prison and think what they have done. But when it comes to crimes such as, stealing, being caught with drugs, or other crimes have to depend. I also do encourage rehabilitation for any crimes but when it comes to homicide my verdict is and always will be to give them adult
Lets face it, kids make mistakes and I think the age for adult prosecution should hinder on the severity of the crime. Any age should understand murder isn't ok. So ultimately, I think it depends on the age. If a 16 year old robs a candy store than he should be given a second chance and be treated as a juvenile. If a 16 years old commits first degree murder than they should certainly be treated as an