Mr. Wellen
ERWC
5 May 2015
Juvenile Justice Essay Children do not have the capabilities of proper decision making to be tried and convicted as adults and serve time in adult prisions. The juvenile justice system was overlooked for many years. As of June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles who committed murder cold not be sentenced to life in prison because it violated the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusal punishment. I agree that juveniles should not be tried as adults, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people believe that all juveniles are criminals. The majority of kids are not criminals. When it comes to the topic of teens being tried as adults, most of us will readily agree that the justice system should treat adults and children differently. Where this arguement usually ends, however, is on the question of, what is the difference beween a teen killing somone and an adult doing the same ? Most muder victims under the 18 are killed by adults. Now this shows that adults and children or teens are on two different levels. An adult prison is definitely not a safe place for children, no matter where they came from. Children placed in adult prisons have a higher rate of recidivism with advanced criminal behavior. This fact blows my mind because it clearly states that if children go to adult prisons they will get worse in there. This leaves me wondering why we haven't been avoidng this circumstance in past years. Also officials should fully consider neurological evidence when dealing with juvenile defenders because the adolescent brain is still growing. This is what causes the unproper decision making. On the other hand there is some cases where I believe it is okay to put teens on trial as an adult. For example, say there is a kid who is 17 and half and blows up a bus with people inside. This now shows that just because he is under age he will be tried as a juvenile. I don't think there is much different then a 17 and half year old compaired to an 18 year old. Despite me thinking that, many people could argue that an 18 year old has a different mentality as someone 5-6 months younger than him, but that is hard for me to believe. In conclusion I believe that it is only right for the juvenile justice system to be flexible. Of course, many will disagree with this assertion because they believe things should not change, but we have to go into these kids life's and backgrounds and understand they grewup with no one to show them how to make right decisions. So is it really the right choice to ruin a childs life and send him to prison for life?
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