The Success and Failures of Juvenile Justice System - Coursework Example

Running Head: JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM Juvenile Justice System of the of the Juvenile Justice System In the nineteenth century, when the juvenile justice system was first started, it reflected the view that children are more innocent, less guilty of criminal motives, and are more in need of protection and discipline than that of adults. As it has been for many years, since the late 1800s, the juvenile court system was designed to take child offenders out of the criminal courts and protect them from criminal procedures and its effects. The courts are designed to punish and/or cater to the violations that the child has not followed, or has broken. The courts also try to teach minors that living a life of delinquency and being involved in crimes of various natures may not only bring the child to be involved in more serious crimes, but may also bring the child to be incarcerated to the maximum penalty for his or her crimes (Levitt, 1998). Although the factors that account for these earlier viewpoints concerning children are multiple and complex, most of them are related to factors in childrens environments such as the general meanness of life, harsh economic conditions, and social disorders (Gibbons, 2001). These factors caused many developmental procedures and special laws for juveniles as opposed to the current laws that were for adult criminals. Juvenile laws over the years have had many changes and additions to the current laws to be able to better serve the justice system and the crimes that were and are committed by juveniles. As time and crimes progressed; many of the rules and laws were outdated and were not serving juvenile delinquents and the system adequately. Such causes to these changes were that of nineteenth century industrialization, urban migration, economic changes, and the population growth of the nation that contributed to child misbehavior (Gibbons 2001). Many people began suggesting changes and alterations of the system and the laws regarding juveniles and their punishments. Juveniles, who commit crimes, can be charged like adults, with a felony, a misdemeanor, or an infraction. Juvenile crime or delinquency is the legal term for behavior of children and adolescents, under the age of eighteen that in adults would be judged criminal under law. The immature generally were not considered morally responsible for their behavior. Under certain circumstances, youthful offenders can be tried as juveniles or adults. Generally, any individual age eighteen or over is considered an adult and treated as such. Depending on the crime, however, someone as young as fourteen years old can be tried in the adult court system, receiving an adults sentence (McCord, 2000). In a report by Howard Snyder, Director of the National Juvenile Court Data Archive, demands that the courts must not continue letting minors leave the courtroom with minimal sentences for dangerous crimes. Most importantly, juvenile crime forces the courts to neglect time from the adult criminal courts. Juvenile crime has done nothing but increase from the past, and because of the increase in crime by minors, courts have been forced to place less emphasis on lower criminal cases. The statistics pertaining to the crimes that juveniles committed in the past proves that more needs to be said and done by trying more serious juveniles as adults. First of all, statistics show that the system lets juveniles off easy because they have not yet reached adulthood. Teenagers feel that because they are young and innocent, they can easily beat the system. Out of the many minors who go to court for serious offenses, over half of them leave the courtroom smiling because the judge decided for them to be prosecuted as children, equating easy punishment. Of the 20,000 juvenile delinquency cases that went to court, only one fourth were tried as adults in a criminal court (Snyder, 1999). Secondly, out of 5,000 minors who stood for trial for serious crimes, such as murder or attempted murder, only a few were convicted; therefore, to make a statement, the judicial system needs to prosecute juveniles as adults for more criminal offenses involving such felonies as breaking an entering or auto theft (Snyder, 1999). Lastly, statistics illustrate that minors need a wake-up call to begin reducing the crimes committed by minors. A report rendered by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency shows that a poll indicates that two-thirds of the people believed that if more minors were tried as adults, then the message would get across to juveniles not to commit crimes. Using a minors age as a factor in determining whether or not he or she will be arraigned as an adult or a juvenile is getting old. Initially, juveniles normally begin to follow a life of crime because of past experiences, which must not be used as an excuse to not stand trial as an adult. Crime among minors most likely starts at home. Juvenile criminals commence their life in crime as early as nine years of age. Many juveniles who commit crimes are brought up in poor environments, such as ones with broken homes, bad neighborhoods, and one-parent families (Steve Robinson¸2001). They grow up seeing others being involved in crimes, so they also feel that it is fine to act the same. Their odds of being saved from environments, as these seem very slim and they know that its their only way of surviving. Trying juveniles as adults places an interesting impact on society. First of all, society voices itself frequently. The sole explanation that the majority of society comes up with for the boom in juvenile crime is that the society is infested with a future generation presently embroiled in failure and rage. The majority of society refuses to accept criminals into their lives, so by standing more juveniles on trial as adults, the juveniles will learn a valuable lesson. In addition, society takes advantage of those minors who allegedly commit certain crimes. Juveniles that have been tried as minors and released without penalty or even with a small penalty become prime bait for gangs because the system has failed to teach a lesson to the minor. Lastly, society often comes into play inside the courtrooms. Grand juries must decide whether or not there is enough evidence to indict anyone suspected of capital crimes. When the rare occurrence of a juvenile being tried as an adult takes place, grand juries often focus on one or more topics of community interest, resulting in the minors escaping conviction (Snyder, 1999). More juveniles must stand trial as adults for the legal system to maintain its full effect. To a large extent, the success or failure of the criminal justice system will depend on its effectiveness in handling youthful offenders ensuring that for the vast majority of juvenile offenders their first brush with the law is their last and ensuring that the small group of hardened, chronic youth offenders is incapacitated for extended periods (Bilchik, 1997). The long-term solution to the problem of juvenile crime falls largely outside of the law and court systems. It requires strengthening the basic institutions the family, education, religious institutions and community groups. From the law enforcement standpoint, there are two groups of juveniles: The larger group who have only one or two brushes with the law and straighten up as they mature, and the smaller group who are the hardened chronic offenders, committing the majority of all violent juvenile crime. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a juvenile justice system that is too lenient can become a conveyor belt for career criminals, and recommends the following solutions for both groups of juvenile offenders: Recommendation 1: Establish a range of tough juvenile sanctions that emphasize discipline and responsibility to deter non-violent, first time offenders from further crimes. With respect to the larger group of offenders, excessive lenience wastes the opportunity to salvage the youth and instead encourages them to become career criminals. For the smaller group, excessive lenience fails to adequately protect society from these violent criminals. Recommendation 2: Increase the ability of the juvenile justice system to treat the small group of chronic, violent juvenile offenders as adults. The criminal justice system must recognize that some youthful offenders are simply criminals who happen to be young. Although this group represents only a small fraction of our youth, they commit a large percentage of all violent crimes. States should ensure that their systems permit the treatment of juveniles as adults in appropriate circumstances. Due to the increase in juvenile crime many changes must still happen in order for the system to be comprehensive. Many juvenile criminals are being punished moderately for the different crimes that are being unswerving such as robbery to assorted degrees of murder. They require being the examples to the criminals still out there, and showing them that it is no laughing matter. Juvenile criminals ought to have to spend their lives in jail after such monstrous crimes are committed. Juvenile institutions are not sufficient of a penalty for one who murders and harms others living. The sum of juvenile crime and the irresistible statistics to crime relating youths continue a strong point as to why juveniles require standing trial as adults. Age should not be a cause to let a juvenile off the fastener for a crime. Finally, if the judicial system residue at its current state, the United States must get ready for a long and dreary dispute. References Gibbons, D.C., and Krohn, M.D. 2001. Delinquent Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Snyder H, Sickmund M. (1999) Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report. National Center for Juvenile Justice: Pittsburgh, PA McCord J, Widom CS, and Crowell N (eds) (2000) Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice. National Academy Press: Washington DC. Levitt, Steven D. (1998). Juvenile crime and punishment. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 106 Issue 6, p1156 Bilchik, Shay. (1997). Prevention and teamwork key to fighting juvenile crime. Corrections Today, Apr97, Vol. 59 Issue 2, p42 Steve Robinson, (2001). Juvenile Crime. Texas Youth Commission. FDCH Congressional Testimony Read More