Pros And Cons Of Juveniles And Adult Trials

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Juveniles and Adult Trials On April 20th, 1999 two students from Columbine High School carried out one of the most commonly known high school massacres recorded; the two “slaughtering 12 teenagers and a teacher” (Walker). The Columbine Shooting took several young high school lives and was carried out by the student’s fellow classmates. Had the two shooters not taken their own lives, they would have likely been tried as adults for the heinous crimes they carried out. Since the late 1990s the United States Legislative branch has tightened the chances of a juvenile having the chance of being tried as a juvenile rather than being tried an adult. Today the United States is faced with a major controversial in whether or not juveniles should be tried as adults for violent…show more content…
Punishments to this extent could include life without parole or three-quarters of a juvenile’s life in jail. The supervisor for the San Bernardino County, California, Brad Mitzelfelt, stated: "’Penalties for violent crimes should be getting tougher, they should not be getting lighter,’" (Locked Up). Brad is saying that teenagers and children who commit violent crimes need to be punished in a harsh manner in order to stop future crimes from happening. Phillip Chism brutally murdered his teacher in October of 2013 at the age of 15. Kate MacDougall, whom is the Essex County Assistant District Attorney, stated Chism has an extraordinary chance of qualifying for parole by the time he is 30 years of age if his trial is through the juvenile court system (Campbell). While people believe all juveniles of violent crime should be tried as adults, there are also people who are backers of juveniles not being tried as adults. Supporters of this side believe that teenagers and children are not old enough to realize what their crime equates. The young juveniles can easily be manipulated by people and peer pressured. Likewise Richard Kling, whom is a law professor
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