Should Minors Be Charged as Adults in Court - Term Paper Example

English 15 October Should Minors be charged as Adults in Court Introduction In the United s of America, a minorrefers to a person who is below the age of 18 years. Throughout the 1990s and even during the years after, there has been an increase in juvenile violent crime rates; most of the news stories have been reporting senseless acts that have been committed by young people, and especially those who are below the age of 18 years. Reports have shown that these crimes committed by the minors involve guns, drugs, and gangs, which seems to be a common behavior to the youths in the American society (Myers 1-2). Most of the people have been left with the impression that children and adolescents have gone out of control. It is due to this fact that there is an argument that they ought to be charged as adults in courts. In other words, the courts should not be lenient on them just because they are kids, while in some instances, their behavior is far much worse than that of adults. For example, in October 1997, a boy known as Nathaniel Abraham, who was 5 feet tall and weighed 65 pounds at eleven years, was reported to have shot and kill 18 year old Ronnie Green outside a convenience store in Pontiac (Myers 1). The rifle which was used in the shoot out was stolen. The rise in juvenile crimes has resulted to states being seen as incapable of handling the situation, and therefore, something ought to be done (Myers 1-2). 2. What does it mean when a Minor is tried as an Adult in Court? There are times when a court transfers juvenile cases to adult courts. A minor is said to be tried as an adult in court when his or her case follows the facts and laws of the adult cases (Bergman and Berman 559). A judge may decide to transfer a juvenile case to an adult court for a number of reasons. First, is in case a judge decides that the minor cannot be rehabilitated, to amend his behavior. Second, is in case the offence committed by the juvenile happens to be too serious to be tried in a juvenile court. Third, is in case the juvenile happens to have a lengthy court record and lastly, if the minor is at least 16 or 17 years of age, as well as physically and mentally sound. There are several ways of charging juveniles as adults; in this case, the cases are transferred from a juvenile court system to an adult court system. These ways are as follows: a. Through a judicial waiver: Court judges have the discretion to have juveniles tried in adult courts. However, only some states allow this. This mostly happens when the juvenile judge in his or her opinion finds that the case is more serious and gives the green light for the case to be tried in an adult court (Young and Gainsborough 4). b. Through direct file: This is sometimes referred to as ‘Prosecutorial Discretion’ (Young and Gainsborough 4). This is present in some states, where the prosecutor may be given the power to decide whether a minor should be tried as an adult or not (Young and Gainsborough 4). c. Statutory Exclusion: Some state laws based on a number of considerations such as type and seriousness of crime, a juvenile’s record and age, require a youth’s case to be tried in an adult court (Young and Gainsborough 4). d. The concept of always being an adult, once tried as an adult: If the minor has ever been tried as an adult, some states require this approach to be used in all other cases involving the juvenile (Young and Gainsborough 4). 3. Reasons against charging Minors as Adults in Court The juvenile justice system was established more than a hundred years ago (Singer, examiner.com). This was in effort to ensure that juvenile offenders do not go through the adult justice system, which has always been viewed as being harsher. The main focus behind the juvenile justice system was to supervise and rehabilitate youths, rather than just punishing them (Singer, examiner.com). In the United States, there has been a distinction between laws and charges meant for adults and those meant for juveniles. Juvenile courts are less formal compared to adult courts. The following are the reasons that have been raised against charging minors as adults in court: a. Public safety is undermined when a juvenile is tried as an adult: Studies have shown that the transfer of juveniles to adult courts, or in other words, having juveniles tried as adults has jeopardized public safety (Young and Gainsborough 9). For example, a study conducted in Florida found out that the young offenders who came of the adult system were more likely to commit offences again and sometimes more serious ones, compared to juveniles who came out of the juvenile system (Young and Gainsborough 9). b. Immaturity leads juveniles to crime: Children below the legal age, which is 18 years, should be understood to be immature, therefore not able to make sound decisions (Singer, examiner.com). They can be easily manipulated to commit offences by their peers and even adults. For this reason, hey should be given a second chance through guidance and counseling (Singer, examiner.com). c. It is easy to rehabilitate juveniles: Usually, the character of a juvenile is not fully developed, due to young age, and thus there is no need of charging a juvenile in an adult court. A juvenile can be easily and more successfully rehabilitated than an adult criminal. In other words, it is easy to give juveniles a second chance to change their character, more than their adult counterparts. If the juvenile is convicted as an adult, he or she will be deprived the liberty of having a second chance (Michon, nolo.com). d. Adult prison conditions are harsh for a young child: When juvenile offenders are charged as adults’ in courts, they are subjected to severe sentences, such as life imprisonment. These jails are characterized with people who have been in the crime world for a long time, and who are much stronger than the juveniles; for this reason they tend to bully and abuse the juveniles (Michon, nolo.com). e. Less social stigmatization: When a young offender has been charged as an adult in court, the conviction has been found to carry more social stigma than when the same young offender is charged as a juvenile (Michon, nolo.com). Thus, such a young offender might even commit more crime for him to be jailed and be taken back to the prison, where he or she will not be socially stigmatized. Juvenile court records are easier to seal than the records from the adult courts and this poses a threat to the life of a juvenile charged as an adult. f. Prosecuting juveniles as adults fails to provide them with special safeguards and care: Juvenile justice in the United States of America argues that charging the young offenders as adults is usually arbitrary and unjust, and pays no attention to the fact that the juveniles can be rehabilitated, and change their behavior. Once in the adult system, the young offenders are also deprived the right to being rehabilitated (Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International 25). g. Charging juveniles as adults undermines justice: Adult courts have been designed to prosecute only adults. The judges and lawyers working in adult courts have no training on handling children; they do not understand the cognition or understanding of children, so as to get more information on whether a child is innocent or not (Young and Gainsborough 9). Thus, if a young offender or a minor is charged in an adult court, he or she is disadvantaged compared to his or her adult counter parts (Young and Gainsborough 9). 4. Reasons for charging Minors as Adults in Courts Day in day out, murderers, rapists, and other dangerous criminals are walking out of jails in America, having served short and lenient sentences. Most of the time, citizens ask why these people are released, but they are reminded time and again that these are young boys and girls, who should not serve adult sentences. This is not serving any justice to the families of victims and even the victims themselves, who are left to suffer when the juveniles are released and are allowed to continue living their normal lives. It is for this reason that some argue that juveniles should not be given second chances, since some have been reported of committing additional and sometimes, more serious crimes. During the past few decades, minors younger than 18 years have accounted for approximately one third of all serious property crime arrests, and less than one fifth of violent crimes in the United States of America (Myers 5). This has resulted to some groups advocating for the minors to be treated like adults in courts, so as to try and cub the menace (Myers 5). There have been a number of reasons raised as to why the minors who commit crimes should be charged as adults. They are as follows: a. No crime is an exception: Anyone who commits a criminal offence is considered as being a criminal by the law in America. Therefore, the young offenders who commit crimes are not an exception since they are also criminals. Some minors have committed more heinous crimes compared to adults; these include murder and rape among others. In such crimes, the age of a criminal does not matter; thus, juveniles ought to be charged as adults. It is wrong for the young offenders who have committed violent crimes such as rape or murder to be released. b. Juvenile courts are inadequate: Many people in America have considered the juvenile courts as being inadequate in dealing with the crimes that have been perpetuated by minors. Before the juvenile systems were established, drugs, gangs, and guns, which have led to the increase of juvenile crimes, were rare; however, in the recent past, these have increased. The juvenile courts only give lenient sentences to the young offenders and this does not help in deterring crime; rather it perpetrates crime. The only option that remains in such situations is having minors charged as adults, since this way, they can be subjected to serious sentences meant for adults, such as life imprisonment, which is not available in juvenile systems. c. It is an effective way of deterring crime: The basic assumption given when charging juveniles as adults is that more severe punishment and less concern with rehabilitation will lead to a decrease in crimes committed by juveniles. When a young offender realizes that the sentence he or she will get after committing a certain crime is very harsh, he or she will tend to avoid committing the offence (Young and Gainsborough). Thus leaving young offenders to be charged as adults, leads to a reduction in crimes committed by juveniles. d. Prosecuting juveniles as adults helps in public safety: Once children are prosecuted as adults, they become subjects to the same prison where the adults are taken and also to sentences that the adults are given. This is very important because it will keep those violent young offenders away from the society thus ensuring public safety (Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International 25). 5. Conclusion Most of the time, people tend to argue that young offenders should not be charged as adults and consider it as a radical and traditional way of thinking. They also have the view that such young offenders do not need harsh punishments, but rather require rehabilitation, which will make them change their behavior. Most argue that there has been more harm than good caused by the transfer of juveniles from juvenile courts to adult courts. However, the constant rise in the number of young people committing crime, and especially violent crimes, has left the American society with no option, but to try them as adults. In my opinion, charging juveniles as adults is a viable solution to tackle the rise in youth crimes. More people are recognizing that the adults’ courts are appropriate because some of the crimes committed by young offenders are very serious and thus deserve harsh punishment. Through this, justice is also served for victims and their families, since the young offenders do not walk away scot-free. Therefore, all states in America should adopt the policy of charging young offenders or minors as adults, as it seems to be very effective in helping America stop crime. There is no way a rapist who is a minor should receive a lenient sentence just because he or she is young. I hold that morals are inherent from birth and not learnt. This means that some people have just been born with very bad behavior, which is later perpetuated by socialization, and ought to face the consequences of their behavior, whether young or old. Works Cited Bergman, P. and Sara J. Berman. The Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights, Survive the System. 13th ed. California: NOLO, 2013. Print.  Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The Rest of Their Lives: Life without Parole for Child Offenders in the United States. New York: Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, 2005. Print. Michon, K. “When Juveniles are tried in Adult Criminal Court.” nolo.com. 2013. Web 15 November 2013. Myers, D. L. Boys among Men: Trying and Sentencing Juveniles as Adults. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 2005. Print. Singer, A. “Should Children be tried as Adults?” examiner.com. 11 June 2012. Web. 15 November 2013. Young, Malcolm. C. and Jenni Gainsborough. Prosecuting juveniles in Adult Court: An Assessment of Trends and Consequences. The Sentencing Project. 2000. PDF file. Read More