Juveniles Tried As Adults
Juvenile Delinquency is an on going problem in the world today. In fact, since the beginning of time, most juveniles have been unruly, rambunctious, and in need of supervision. Those who coming from loving families with parents who care about the well being of the child have this supervision and care. However, there are many who do not have the luxury of the supervision. They, become delinquents. For the most part, most juvenile delinquency come in the form of status offenses. However, every once in a while, a juvenile commits such a heinous act that a juvenile court cannot oversee it. Through looking at it's history, the views of today, the statistical information, and the opinions of those involved, we will explore what it means for a juvenile to be tried as an adult in America's court system, and weather there are implications because of it. In order to look at the current status of juvenile offenders in the court system, especially those tried as adults, it is necessary to see the progression from which Juvenile Justice originat
Some crimes cannot and should not be handled by the juvenile courts. In 1985, there were a total of 505,400 petitioned cases in the juvenile courts to be sent to the adult criminal courts. Of those cases, 7,200 were actually sent 1.4% of all the cases. In 1994, 855,200 cases were petitioned to the adult criminal courts,where as only 12,300 cases were actually transferred, again yielding a 1.4% ratio. Between 1985 and 1994, the number of cases that the juvenile courts sent up to the adult courts increased by 71% from 7,200 to 12,300 cases annually. Today, over 1,300,000 cases are petitioned to the adult courts, with approximately 18,000 cases being actually transferred. The cases transferred revolve around four major offenses to people ,property, drugs, and public order. In 1985 the most serious offense was an offense against property, 54% of all cases, with crimes against the person (31%), public order (8%), and drug use (7%). In more recent years, the most serious offense has turned to crimes against the person (47%), followed by property crimes (34%), an incredible increase in drug use (13%) and crimes against public order (7%) (Siegel, 537). Does America face an epidemic of mass proportions with the increase of juvenile delinquency, or is America not looking at the statistics. According to the research, a juvenile arrested for a heinous crime has a 1.4% chance of having that case taken out of juvenile court to an adult court. That means that 98.6% of all cases petitioned will never face the harsh punishments instituted in the adult court system. "What is accomplished by treating juveniles like adults? As we've seen, studies of the impact of the recent wavier statute have yielded inconclusive results. Some juveniles whose cases are waived to criminal court are sentenced more leniently than they would have been in juvenile court. In many states, even when juveniles are tried in criminal court and convicted on charges, the may still be sentenced to a juvenile of youthful offender institution rather than to an adult prison. The laws may allow them to be transferred to an adult prison when they have reached a certain age. Some studies show that only a small percentage of juveniles tried as adults are incarcerated for periods longer than the terms served by offenders convicted of the same crime in juvenile court. Moreover, judges tend to sentence sixteen year olds appearing in adult court to probation rather than prison. In the end, what begins as a get-tough measure has had the opposite effect, while costing tax payers more money. (Siegal, 541) What the author is saying is that the fear of the adult court on the juvenile offender seems to have no effect on the juvenile. It is part due to the fact that they believe that once going through the adult criminal court and not get punished as harshly, that they are untouchable and try to do more delinquent acts, feeling as though there unstoppable. A study which appeared in the April 1996 issue of the journal Crime and Delinquency found that "30 percent of youths tried as adults were rearrested during the year after their release compared to 19 percent of the youths retained in the juvenile system. 93 percent of the rearrests involving the youths tried as adults were for felony offenses, compared to the 85 percent of their counterparts handled as juveniles".(Keen,1996) Juveniles are not grasping the concept of the adult system and the severity because they know that even there, they will still be treated as juveniles. One of the biggest problems that I see today with the juvenile offender is that they realize that they have to do something major to be in jail for life, but anything short of that, they will get an easy sentence. Should juvenile delinquency be viewed as something that the world should deal with, or that the parent should deal with. Should juveniles recieve different sentances for committing the same crimes as adults. This paper has illus
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Approximate Word count = 3762
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page double spaced)
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