These types of decisions to try juveniles in adult court serve society in terms of placing these individuals in custody for potential rehabilitation and introduction back into society. According to Kathleen Michon, one of the advantages of trying a juvenile case in criminal courts is that “minors have the right to a jury trial in adult court” [since] most states do not provide a jury trial for juveniles (Michon, 2014, p. 2). Michon also suggests that juveniles will be more apt to receive a “sympathetic jury” (Michon,
Juveniles Tried As Adults Dorothy Isaac CRJ 376- Court Systems and Processes April 17, 2014 Abstract When a child kills, does he instantly become an adult? Or does he maintain some trappings of childhood, despite the gravity of his actions? These are the questions plaguing the American legal system today, as the violent acts of juvenile offenders continue to make headlines. Trial as an adult is a situation when a juvenile offender is tried as if he/she were an adult. Where specific protections exist for juvenile offenders such as suppression of an offender's name or picture or a closed courtroom where the proceedings are not made public, these protections may be waived.
These rights include the right to counsel, the right to notice of the charges against them, the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses, and the right against self-incrimination. Similar to adult offenders, juveniles have a right to know and understand why they are being arrested, the right to be silent, and the right to an attorney. Not unlike adult offenders, a juvenile defendant should be able to make a phone call after arrest, have a right to a reasonable bond amount, and the right to be presented in court . At the time of the arrest. The officer has the liability of explaining a juvenile’s rights in a language that is intelligible to a juvenile.
Juvenile and Adult Courts The juvenile court system has numerous similarities and differences when compared to adult court. In a civil proceeding juveniles are adjudicated, rarely obtain a criminal record, and have the ability to have their records expunged and sealed once they turn a certain age. Adults on the other hand are charged in a criminal proceeding and carry a criminal record for the remainder of his or her life if they are found guilty. The juvenile court system is conducted in an informal matter and focus more on parens patriae versus due process, records and recordings of proceedings is the decision of the juvenile judge, and the preponderance of the evidence is used in most circumstances other than to determine delinquency where beyond reasonable doubt is implemented. Proceedings for adult courts are formal and the standard of proof is required to determine a guilty verdict beyond a reasonable doubt.
They are a few exceptions to this rule, as to when a minor or juvenile maybe charged as an adult. The major difference between juvenile and adult court, is adult court is designed to see if the offender has any criminal responsibility to the crime. Also in adult court, they are tried by a party of their peers and punishment is set forth. Can one really see a minor being tried by their peers? This is the reason why the judge has the major say in juvenile court and proceedings.
Private prisons might make government prisons more difficult to manage by housing only the best-behaved offenders and refusing the difficult ones Although juvenile courts are part of the state court system, they differ in their goals and in the way they operate. Whereas courts that try adults follow criminal law, juvenile courts follow civil law because the primary goal of juvenile courts is rehabilitation, not punishment. The relationship between state courts and their juvenile counterparts differs from state to state. However, only few states operate completely separate juvenile courts. Most juvenile courts are attached to family courts or trail courts.
Once a juvenile is adjudicated delinquent, the judge then choses a disposition which usually is probation but there are other options such as juvenile halls, boot camps, group homes, youth correctional facilities and so on. I believe that the juvenile process should differ from that of the adult process because at the end of the day, a juvenile is still a child and most do not fully understand the severity of their crime. The juvenile courts can ultimately help the subject instead of resulting in
Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults? The article “Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults” by Terry A. Maroney describes the relation of teens and the criminal system. She believes that teens are not adults and that they do not have the mentality or righteousness as an adult. Saying a child or teen is an adult does not make them one. She continues on to say that it is proven that teens are more likely to be influenced by peer pressure.
. .” - Judge LaDoris Cordell, Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California As the frequency and the seriousness of juvenile offending increases, our legislature has responded by making it easier for juvenile offenders to be tried as adults in the criminal justice system. This could be more harmful than helpful, as our juveniles get lost in a correctional system filled with hardened criminals, more opportunity to become repeat offenders, and less opportunity for rehabilitation. “If we could take every kid and surround the kid with full-time staffs of psychologists and child advocates and drug and alcohol counselors, then perhaps no kid should be in adult court. But the fact is, there are only a limited number of resources in the juvenile justice system, and they can only perform a limited number of functions.
Juvenile rights seem to change from state to state, due to the laws that each state has, which are implemented by the legislations and rules that are set. The focal point is to rehabilitate these young people oppose to integrating them into prisons or jails, whereas this could stop them from being taking through the system at such a early age. When a juvenile has entered into the juvenile justice system they are processed through intake adjudication, disposition and post-adjudications. The purpose of the intake process is to decide what would be the proper location for the juvenile, such as programs to divert the juvenile of dismiss informally, either one is effective the youth can be petition to juvenile court. The adjudication process is less reserved than the adults hearings, however the juvenile have limited rights than the adults offenders in the judicial process.