The topic of my position paper is Should Juveniles be treated as Adults in Criminal Cases? I think that juveniles should not be tried as adults unless they are on trial for murder and are mentally competent to understand the charges held against them. Before 1899 in most states, all children were prosecuted as if they were adults. Reformers who documented abuse of young boys in adult prisons, wanted to change this. They helped form one of the first Children’s Court in Chicago that same year.
I could argue that even more crime could result in effect to fewer prisonable offences and more humane forms of corporal punishment. Think about this: You get in trouble for selling drugs . . . the Judge then sets forth an ultimatum; Stand in the town center and endure a public whipping, or report to jail for the next year.
The juvenile court did make the decision to transfer his case, therefore; Stanford would be trialed as an adult under a state statute permitting such action as to offenders who are either charged with a class A felony, capital crime or anyone over the age of sixteen and charged with a felony. ( (Death Penalty in America,)Legal Studies 485, Spring 2003. Stanford was convicted of murder, first degree sodomy, first degree robbery, and receiving stolen property. He was sentenced to death and forty five years in prison. Stanford appealed this sentencing on the notion that his eight amendments protectipon against cruel and unusual punishment had been violated.
Monique Gonzales Mancia 11 May 2012 Minors Should Not Be Tried as Adults in Court “In the United States, children are treated as different from adults, except when it comes to criminal law; We see them as in need of protection from the outside world and as insufficiently mature to justify being treated as adults” (Barstow). Children are not allowed to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, or even vote until the age of 18 or 21 yet when it comes to criminal law they are looked upon as an adult and prosecuted as adults. Experts from attorneys to Supreme Court justices still wrestle with the issues that appear when discussing this topic. Current policies and procedures seem to create more controversy with each new case of a juvenile tried as an adult. Minors should not be tried as adults in court because they lose the chance at receiving rehabilitation services, the recidivism rate is higher, and the stigma of a criminal past on an adults’ life.
Alfonzo then appealed arrest and said this law is unconstitutional Lopez believed that the laws went past the power of the United States Congress. His first defense failed and the court ruled and said that Congress had the right and authority to regulate school activities throughout the United States. Alfonzo was convicted for carrying a weapon to school. Then Alfonzo appealed the initial decision and then he brought the case to the Fifth Circuit of Appeals which is a court composed of seventeen active judges John Minor Wisdom United States Court of Appeal which is located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Alfonzo once again claimed that Commerce Clause which is basically where Congress is granted separate power, which Alfonzo thought was a direct violation of the Constitution Of The Unites States.
Amnesty International (2010) believes that the death penalty legalises an irreversible act of Violence by the state “While the death penalty runs the risk of irrevocable error it has not been proven to have any special deterrent effect. It denies the possibility of rehabilitation. It promotes simplistic responses to complex human problems, rather than pursuing constructive solutions…. It is a symptom of a culture of violence, not a solution to it. It is an affront to human dignity” (Amnesty International
Johnson, R. & Tabriz, S. (2011) Sentencing Children to Death by Incarceration: A Deadly Denial of Social Responsibility. The Prison Journal, Gale 91.2, 198-204 In this mind-altering article Johnson brings to attention how there is ultimately two forms of the death penalty in American: death by execution and life without parole, better known as death by incarceration. In the case of Robert v. Simmons it was said that according to the supreme court juveniles cannot be executed, it violates the eighth amendment of cruel and unusual punishment. Therefore they are locked away for life, with no second chances. Rehabilitation is more successful in juveniles than in adults, which has brought to attention that death by incarceration should never be
A person can either allow a person to harm them or fight and in some cases even kill. The stand your ground rule is very controversial. Many argue that just because a person is being attacked does not give them the right to kill. Although, two wrongs don’t make a right, but when protecting yourself, the only thing that is on a person’s heart is making it out of the situation alive. In my opinion, the rule does not lead to more crime, simply because "There's nothing in the statute that provides for any kind of aggressive action in terms of pursues and confront”.
It is said that 13-17 children are killed every day by firearms, when since 1903 the number of fatal gun accidents is at its lowest. The number of children per day is based on counting’s that include older teenagers and people in their twenties; when counting actual children (14 years and under) the daily death rate is 2.6 and for children ten and under it is 0.4 per day, far lower than children that are killed by drunk driving incidents, drowning, or many other causes (Kopel,
Researchers at Harvard studies the relationship between firearm availability and the deaths of children 5-14 years old. Out of that age group, 6,817 children were killed by firearms between 1988 and 1997. They also found out that death rates were highest in states where firearms were most accessible. Every so often a story will pop up on the news saying, “Kid shoots dad” or “Child accidentally shoots himself. Whats the easiest way to have stories like these stop popping up?