Mrs. Dyer
English 12
01 October 2016
Trying Juveniles as Adults
Crime has been around longer than anyone on this earth, so it is nothing new. Crime is more related to adults, but over the years the term “juvenile” is widely known as a child offender. These juveniles commit most or worst than the same crimes as adults but do not receive the same sentencing or punishment. Through series of research over the years, the theory of trying these juveniles as adults is in need to be enforced throughout the country.
There are various laws that deal with judging if a juvenile is to be tried as an adult, such as “ Texas adopted a law called “The Common Law of England”; and under the harsh law children over seven would …show more content…
These numbers show that juvenile crime is very active and very serious. Also “ A total of 2.2 million youth younger than eighteen are subject to routine criminal processing” (21). The number provided is not only gigantic but also is informing that that is only the number in routine criminal processing, there are still many more than this number in other processing across the nation, for example “ In 2007, there were a total of 2.2 million sixteen and seventeen year-olds who were considered criminally responsible “ adults”.” (21). As one can see the number of juveniles in the system that are adults are very high and could be even higher today. “ By the year 2015, more than 2,230 people in the United States are serving their life without parole for crimes the are committed as juveniles, according to the data compiled by Phillips Black Project.” (Johnson & Armstrong 4). The crime over the last couple of years may have dropped down significantly but is still very abroad and active. “ Juvenile courts are estimated to have waived jurisdiction in about 8,500 cases.” (Griffin et al 10). This states that the number of case listed have tried those juveniles as adults in the court of law. Moreover the number of juveniles are …show more content…
As before quoted “ Old enough to do the crime, old enough to do the time.” (Maroney 1), it is reasonable to try these juveniles that are committing the same, or possibly worse crimes than adults. It is not fair to the 43 year-old man to be sentenced 30 years for robbery when a juvenile is only put in juvie or an alternative of such for 2 years. Regardless of age if the crime is committed there should be reasonable and legal punishment that comes along with it. And that is why juveniles throughout the United States of America need to be tried as adults for the crimes they have committed.
Works Cited
Griffin, Patrick, et al. “Trying Juveniles as Adults: An Analysis of State Transfer Laws and
Reporting.” (2011): U.S. Department of Justice. Web. 9 Sept. 2016
Howell, Rebecca J., and Tonya Spicer Hutto. “Sentencing Convicted Juvenile Felony Offenders
In The Adult Court: The Direct Effects Of Race.” Behavioral Sciences & The Law 30.6
(2012): 782-799. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Sept. 2016.
Johnson, Corey G., and Armstrong, Ken. “This Boy’s Life.” Mother Jones 41.1 (2016): 42.
Master file Premier. Web. 8 Sept. 2016.
Mark D., and I. Bath. “Standing Alone In Judgment.” Reclaiming Children And Youth