Explain Why Juveniles Should Not Be Tried As Adults

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With the United States of America being the land of the free and the home brave, justice for all should be priority to society as a whole. With everyone speaking freely about the current events going on in Ferguson and the Malaysian plane crash, no one wants to address home front issues. A typical phrase “Adult crime for adult time” may be catchy but it reflects poor understanding of criminal principles. Youth tried as adults face the same penalties as adults including life without parole. Youth are not mature enough to be placed in a prison with 38 year old murders. Thus, placing them in a predicament to be physical or sexual abused and at high risk for suicide and self-infliction. Most times children who commit these crimes could be helped though rehabilitation services offered through the juvenile justice system. When trying juvenile offenders in criminal court, we don’t perceive them as adults for other purposes. Therefore, juveniles should not be tried as adults in criminal court.…show more content…
“Adult crime for adult time” is a poor example of such foolery. If the punishment of the crime, both the nature of the offense and the culpability or moral responsibility of the offender must be taken into account. As the U.S Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized, the culpability of children cannot be equate with that of adults, even when they commit the same crime (Stamps 2011). For that reason, many juveniles should be evaluated by having a competence hearing before any trial in criminal court. Within that hearing hopefully it would be enough evidence to refer the juvenile back the juvenile justice

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