ENG215 Assignment 4

Title Chosen “Adult Crime, Adult Time”

Children are taught right from wrong from the time they are born. Adolescences have a strong grasp on the value of human life. To take someone else’s life on purpose is not something that can be treated lightly. People like to blame the violent movies they watch, or the games they play. They say that the violence has desensitized them, making it so they no longer understand right from wrong. That simply isn’t true. It is said that juveniles lack the maturity to understand the wrongfulness of their actions; I however disagree in the case of violent crimes. As children we are educated in the case of right and wrong. Hence when it comes to something that is extremely wrong such as violent crimes, it is a clear cut case, and juveniles should be tried as adults.

Minors, who commit violent crimes, such as murder, first degree murder, second degree murder, homicides, and voluntary manslaughter should be tried as adults. Minors who commit violent crimes know exactly what they are doing and they also had the intent to kill. Families want to blame it on violent movies or violent TV shows, but violent acts are all around us, and we are taught right from wrong a young age. Perhaps if we start trying juveniles as adults, minors would then think twice about committing crimes in the first place. Even though there are many states that allow juveniles to be tried as adults, other states still have restrictions against it. Juveniles that commit heinous and malicious crimes should be tried as adults, as long as they have the understanding of what is right and wrong (Juvenile Justice 2008). If a juvenile wants to commit an adult crime they should have to pay adult time. Many minor feel that they can commit these adult crimes, because they feel that they will only be charged with a juvenile offense.

Whether minors who commit violent crimes should be tried as an adult has been a hot button topic from some time now. People have very strong opinions on this matter, because no likes to see kids serving hard time. There are many questions that people have about this topic, and there are many questions that would need to be answered in order to satisfy peoples opinions on this controversial topic. Though the questions that will be answered throughout this paper are as follows; what would qualify as a violent crime? Would it make a difference in the crime rate? And if tried as an adult, would they be sent to an adult facility?

Criminals must be held accountable no matter if they are minors or not. Juveniles that commit these heinous crimes, such as murder, need to think about the families of the victim. If the juveniles are just tried in juvenile courts they usually will be sentenced with a less harsh sentence. These families of the victims feel that they are abandoned and feel less secure that the criminal can go out and victimize someone else. They sometimes feel as though “their loss was left unacknowledged” (Estudillo, 2001). The only way to solve this is to try the minor as an adult. The minors must take full responsibility for their actions, to act as a deterrent for other delinquent minors. According to the “FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes are defined in the UCR Program as those offenses which involve force or threat of force” ("Violent crime," 2011). Violent crimes are worst crimes that one can commit, and seeing as we are tough from birth what is right and what is wrong, it seems very clear that violent crimes are ones that need to be punished at the highest level of the law no matter the age of the person committing the crime.

Though many people would not want to hear it, it has already been proven back in the 1990s that a stricter punishment for teens decreases the crime rate. Transfer laws in 1992 utilize several mechanisms, including allowing prosecutorial discretion, lowering the age at which an adolescent is considered an adult from 18 to 17 or 16. Adolescent crimes then decreased by 50 percent (Ash, 2006). Having the time fit the crime seems to be a perfect way to deter people from committing said crime in the first place. The previous juvenile justice system could not keep up with the overwhelming amount of violent juvenile offenders. The juvenile justice system was just reprimanding minors not very seriously. The system needs to give violent offenders individualized attention. They need to help offenders who are threats to society even after being sentenced in the system. The first laws were not designated to deal with extremely violent cases; they were mostly created for minor crimes. The focus was also on rehabilitation, and trying to fix problems. It is proven that “rehab centers have had little influence on youths” (Estudillo, 2001). Many juvenile offenders go through the system and just take rehabilitation as an “easy way out”, many offenders go through the rehabilitation program numerous times before something can be done to actually reprimand them.

Across the United States, thousands of children have been sentenced as adults and sent to adult prisons. “Nearly 3000 nationwide have been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Children as young as 13 years old have been tried as adults and sentenced to die in prison, typically without any consideration of their age or circumstances of the offense.” ("Children in adult," 2012) Many young children in America are imperiled by abuse, neglect, domestic and community violence, and poverty. Without effective intervention and help, these children suffer and struggle their whole lives. Its not be said that those who are commit violent crimes are correct in their action, because they truly are not. Though it is also imperative that we step up and help these children out of these patterns; with that being said, I do not believe that adolescents that are tried and convicted as adults should be sent to adult prisons. They will get lost in the shuffle. Instead why not create facility’s that will, and can rehabilitate these children, and when they have done their time send them in the world as functioning members of society.

There are many reasons people don’t agree with sending adolescents to adult court. Though there are also many reasons why they should; adult crime should equal adult time. We can’t keep allowing this pattern to continue. Our legal system needs to step up and put a stop to babying those who don’t deserve it. Those who commit violent crimes no matter what the age, do not deserve special treatment.

References

Ash, P. (2006, June). Adolescents in adult court: Does the punishment fit the criminal?. Retrieved from http://www.jaapl.org/content/34/2/145.full

Children in adult prison. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.eji.org/childrenprison

Violent crime. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/violent-crime/violent-crime