Juvenile Justice
To many Americans today, the country is a hostage-but not from oversea
terrorism as one might expect to think. No today, we live in fear from our own
children; and these are the same young people who we are entrusting the future
of this great country with. According to the Department of Justice report
released in November, thirty-eight percent of those arrested for weapons
offenses in 1995 were under the age of eighteen (Curriden 66). In the same
report, the Bureau of Justice Statistics stated that in 1995 3 out of every 100
eighteen-year-olds was arrested for weapons offenses. A rate three times higher
than for males twenty-five to twenty-nine and five times higher than for males
thirty to thirty-four (66). Just weeks later the FBI released a report
indicating that arrests for youths under eighteen increased by seven percent in
1996 (66). In light of these disturbing statistics, it may not be surprising
that the general public is starting to believe its children are getting meaner
and more violent. The media, politicians and the American public want something
done, and they want it done now. Right now we are beginning to relize that if
the situation looks bleak now, it could deteriorate even more in the future.
The U.S. Census projects that the juvenile population, reported to be 27.1
million in 1994, will rise to 33.8 million by the year 2004 (67).
At the heart of this controversy: the juvenile justice system. For the
past several years the system has been under attack by every one from state
legislatures to parenteen groups. Our solution to the rising juvenile crime
problem- to get tougher. According to a recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll, 60
percent of Americans believe that a teenager convicted of murder should get the
death penalty (ollson48). In response to this "get tough" mood, more and more
states are passing legislation to try youths as adults for more types of crime
at younger ages. Colorado for example has a brand new type... [continues]
To many Americans today, the country is a hostage-but not from oversea
terrorism as one might expect to think. No today, we live in fear from our own
children; and these are the same young people who we are entrusting the future
of this great country with. According to the Department of Justice report
released in November, thirty-eight percent of those arrested for weapons
offenses in 1995 were under the age of eighteen (Curriden 66). In the same
report, the Bureau of Justice Statistics stated that in 1995 3 out of every 100
eighteen-year-olds was arrested for weapons offenses. A rate three times higher
than for males twenty-five to twenty-nine and five times higher than for males
thirty to thirty-four (66). Just weeks later the FBI released a report
indicating that arrests for youths under eighteen increased by seven percent in
1996 (66). In light of these disturbing statistics, it may not be surprising
that the general public is starting to believe its children are getting meaner
and more violent. The media, politicians and the American public want something
done, and they want it done now. Right now we are beginning to relize that if
the situation looks bleak now, it could deteriorate even more in the future.
The U.S. Census projects that the juvenile population, reported to be 27.1
million in 1994, will rise to 33.8 million by the year 2004 (67).
At the heart of this controversy: the juvenile justice system. For the
past several years the system has been under attack by every one from state
legislatures to parenteen groups. Our solution to the rising juvenile crime
problem- to get tougher. According to a recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll, 60
percent of Americans believe that a teenager convicted of murder should get the
death penalty (ollson48). In response to this "get tough" mood, more and more
states are passing legislation to try youths as adults for more types of crime
at younger ages. Colorado for example has a brand new type... [continues]
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