Should Juveniles be Tried in the Adult Criminal Justice System?
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In the United States, roughly 250,000 juveniles are tried, sentenced or incarcerated as adults each year. Although the United States has a separate court system for minors, most states allow juveniles to be tried as adults under specific circumstances. In the late 1980s, an increase in the juvenile crime rate led to the development of strict legislation. As more juveniles committed crimes, the priority shifted from rehabilitating troubled youth to ensuring public safety from young criminals. Specifically, the stipulations for trying adolescents in the adult criminal justice system became more lenient. Currently, juvenile cases can be transferred to adult court through a judicial waiver, allowing the judge to relinquish the case to adult court, direct file, allowing persecution to transfer the case or statutory exclusion, allowing transfer based on age, type of crime and prior record.
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Strict juvenile justice policies are designed to deter youth from committing crimes and prevent recidivism. However, the policy allowing adolescents to be tried as adults is widely debated. Some argue, the developmental differences between adolescents and adults prevents minors from rationing decisions and repressing impulses. Similarly, the adult justice system is designed to prevent reoffending among adults and is not intended for juveniles. In contrast, trying a minor as an adult is warranted to ensure the punishment reflects the severity of the crime. In the United States, approximately 2,500 juveniles have been sentenced to life without parole therefore, most juveniles being tried as adults do re-enter society. There is an urgency to develop a juvenile justice system that effectively assimilates delinquents back into society without compromising public safety. The argument of whether juveniles should be tried as adults is at the center of this issue.
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Perspectives:
Stories: |
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These are the stories of four young men. All of them were juveniles when they committed their crime, however one was tried as an adult and three were tried as juveniles. To learn more about the differences in their cases, click the images.
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