Should Juveniles Face The Same Punishment As Adults Face?

Introduction

The skyrocketing trend in the United States to get tough on juvenile crime has resulted in an increasing number of minors being tried as adults. In fact, over two hundred thousand minors are charged in adult courts every year. However, juveniles by definition are not adults and therefore should not be treated as such—ever. After all, America's legal system recognizes that the mental competence of children under the age of eighteen has not fully developed, thus minors are not allowed to vote, drink alcohol, or sign legal contracts (Gordon and Mara, pp. 78-99). In keeping with that concept, juveniles should not be subjected to the physical, emotional, and mental abuse found in adult jails. Instead, they should be sent to juvenile detention centers where they would have a chance at education and rehabilitation. This paper discusses Juveniles should not face the same punishment as adults face.

The Concept of Adult Time for Adult Crime

Children in the United States who commit crimes may be dealt with in the juvenile justice system. However, more and more kids are finding themselves facing the adult criminal system for the crimes they commit. Public views of juvenile offenders have been influenced by attention given to high profile cases such as Nathaniel Abraham, Kip Kinkel, and Daphne Abdela. Some experts warn, though, that the public need hot unreasonably fear juvenile offenders because serious violence by juveniles actually dropped in the past few years.

Experts warn, however, that society pays a high price for youths who opt for a life of crime and drug abuse. They say that for each lost youth, the American public pays between $1.7 and $2.3 million tax dollars. The cost is figured by including such factors as victim costs, criminal justice costs, offender productivity loss, and drug treatment costs, among other things. Some facts about juvenile crime were recently released in a report called "Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report." Here are some of those facts (Adult Time for Adult Crimes: Life Without Parole for Juvenile, online):

* Juvenile violence peaks in the after-school hours on school days and in the evenings on nonschool days.

* School crime was not uncommon, but fear kept few high schoolers home during a typical month in 1997.

* Half of high school students who said they carried a weapon said they took that weapon to school.

* Gang problems now affect more jurisdictions than ever before--including rural and suburban areas.

* 54 percent of males and 73 percent of females who enter the juvenile justice system never return on a new referral.

"Get Tough" Laws Lower the Age Kids Can Be Tried as Adults

On October 29, 1997, 18-year-old Ronnie Greene Jr. and two friends were just finishing running some errands in Pontiac, Mich. The three men had left a local convenience store when they heard a gun firing. Before they could react, another bullet was fired. This one hit Greene in the head and killed him

Two days after the shooting, police arrested a suspect--11-year-old Nathaniel ...