SHOULD JUVENILES BE CHARGED AS ADULTS IN CRIMINAL CASES TRINA LEVESQUE POST UNIVERSITY Abstract In 1984 in Butte Mt, two boys (boys simply because of their age) Michael Horvath age 15 and Ted Gibson age 14, committed some unspeakable acts. Michael and Ted had brutally taken the lives of their mothers as well as the life of Ted’s 16 year old sister. These two were sentenced to a juvenile detention facility until the age of 21, after which their juvenile records were sealed and they were able to go on with their lives as if it never happened. I feel that justice was not served for the victims. After this heinous act the laws of MT were swiftly changed to charge juveniles as adults if they commit an adult crime.
Violent Adolescents Annette Fuentes writes an interesting article called Crackdown on Kids. Fuentes wrote this article for the June 15/22 issue of The Nation. This article is about how we have neglected to see the real problem at hand with juvenile delinquents and how quick we as a society are to just throw them in detention facilities rather than solve the problems in a more effective manner. Fuentes wrote this article in response to the shooting sprees at a school in Jonesboro, Arkansas. On March 24, 1998, three boys, ages 11, 13, and 15, unloaded a slew of mini arsenals and were responsible for the deaths of four students and a teacher.
In juvenile court a plea bargain hinges on a juvenile's compliance with certain conditions. For example, as part of a plea deal, a juvenile may need to attend counseling, obey curfews, or even attend rehabilitation program. In the adult court a plea bargain hinges on the involved defendant pleading guilty to a lesser charge, or to only one of several charges that they have. Sentencing Hearing exist for juvenile and adult offenders. A sentence hearing is when the judge gives the offender there sentence that they have to
I do think that courts should consider other factors, like the severity of the crime, the juvenile's previous criminal record and their upbringing, before determining if they should be tried as an adult. But, it should still be the goal of the court system to attempt to educate juveniles, rather than throwing in the towel at the first sign of violence, and sending them to prison with even more violent, hardened criminals. Some say that children who commit adult crimes such as murder should be tried as adults. Then you should be tried as an adult no matter your age. If you take a life from one you should suffer the same punishment if your 15 or if your 43.
In the state of New York State a person who commits a crime and is under the age of 16 is sent to the Family Court system. The first type of hearing in the New York juvenile justice system is in the family court, said juvenile is then submitted to a fact finding hearing. If a finding is made the judge schedules a dispositional hearing and the Probation Department is ordered to investigate; then the juvenile’s home is looked into as well as school activity and behavior. The first sign a juvenile delinquent may exhibit is trouble in school, being suspended or acting out. In California from that point the police may get involved if an incident occurs at school or home, the officer can choose to take the youth to juvenile hall.
“Jacksonville Florida- On March 14, 2011, 12 year old Cristian Fernandez was charged as an adult with the first-degree murder of his 2-year-old half-brother. Fernandez was indicted by a Duval County grand jury. The Kernan Middle School student could spend the rest of his life in prison if he’s convicted of first-degree murder.” (Hunt, 2011) Does this sentence seem too harsh, or perhaps too lenient? Without knowing all of the details involved in the case, it may be harder to decide what would be the best thing to do with 12 year old Fernandez. What specific details would a person need to know in order to sentence him properly?
Walter tries to push forward the question “Should youth be trialled as adults?” to make the audience consider whether it is correct to hold minors in an adult prison and fact is that the USA Justice System incarcerates more youth than any other country in the world. This was found on (eji.org.eji.com). Steve Harmon is a 16 year old boy on trial for felony murder and he gets sent to an adult prison which is what Walter is trying to get us to think about, Whether it’s fair if Steve or any other minor should be in an adult prison at 16 years of age. The quote “The best time to cry is at night” that Walter had used at the start of the novel writing in Steve’s own words from inside the adult prison is to show the audience that it is not a nice nor safe place in there. This is because Steve was pointing out that if you made a noise in there or if anyone heard you crying they would immediately put all attention onto you as they would take you as a ‘whimp’.
Wheeler, Joey Proposition/Support Period: 2 December 5, 2012 Juvenile Justice Essay The vexing question of whether an adult trial and sentence are deemed just for juvenile criminals plague the judicial system as more adolescents commit violent crimes in today’s society. As punishment, most juvenile offenders who are found guilty of certain misdemeanors are sent to juvenile detention facilities for a relatively short period or, in some cases, at least until they are 18 years of age, at which time they are transferred to an adult prison. However, there are an unfortunate few who are tried and directly punished as adults; they are either sentenced to death row or incarcerated in a state prison infested with hardcore adult criminals and felons for as long as a lifetime. All youths, despite the crimes they committed, should not be tried and sentenced as adults. Many juvenile offenders are not intellectually or
The first one is the judicial waiver. A judicial waiver “occurs when a juvenile court judge transfers ca case from juvenile court to adult court in order to deny the juvenile the protections that juvenile jurisdictions provide” http://criminal.findlaw.com/juvenile-justice/juvenile-waiver-transfer-to-adult-court.html. Next is statutory exclusion which is “provisions in the law to exclude some offenses” http://criminal.findlaw.com/juvenile-justice/juvenile-waiver-transfer-to-adult-court.html. The final mechanism is concurrent jurisdiction which “allows the prosecutor to file a juvenile case in both juvenile and adult court because the offense and the age of the accused meet certain criteria” http://criminal.findlaw.com/juvenile-justice/juvenile-waiver-transfer-to-adult-court.html. 46 states use the judicial waiver, 29 states use statutory exclusion and 15 states use concurrent jurisdiction.
The officer uses the information they have and rationalizes where the minor should go next. Depending on the situation they may just release the minor after discussing their reason for intervening with them. But then the officer may decide they have enough information for their case to try the minor (Bartollas & Miller, 2008, p.134). This information may include past history of delinquency from the minor. The officer then may place the juvenile in a detention center or in some cases a foster home (Bartollas & Miller, 2008, p.18).