Should Juveniles Be Tried as Adults

Chelsea Fryer

Ms. Zoeller

English 3B

23 April 2013

Should Juveniles Be Tried As Adults Or Not?

Through different studies, it has been determined that male juveniles engage in more criminal activities than females (Cauffman). Even though females don't engage in as much criminal activity, there has been an overall increase in juvenile crimes in the past decade. Any person under the age of eighteen who commits a crime is considered a juvenile offender. In today's society, more than ever, many people worldwide have begun to question the reliability of the juvenile court system. With all of the violent crimes being committed, many believe the system of punishment is too unrestrictive and inefficient. Even with the current laws for the offenders, something needs to be improved. There are still multiple cases that have resulted in the offender being charged as an adult based on his or her crime. The juvenile and adult courts have many different punishments for the variety of offenders they come across each day. When any person has the mind set to commit such a serious of a crime as murder or any crime of that multitude, they should receive the proper consequences.

Persons legally under the age of eighteen accounted for fifteen percent of all arrests in 2008 (Robinson). There are many different laws to help decide what a juvenile's punishment should be. In the Roper v. Simmons Supreme Court Case it was decided that no juvenile could be sentenced to death (Brickhead). This case helps to decipher how a juvenile can be punished in a court of law. Along with juveniles not being able to be put to death, they cannot receive life without parole. Juveniles' not being able to receive life without parole was decided in the Graham v. Florida Supreme Court Case (Arya). This issue was further brought out in the Miller v. Alabama Supreme Court Case. Life without parole for juvenile offenders was forever ruled unconstitutional (Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals). No person under the age of eighteen could receive this punishment from here on out. Although no juvenile could be sentenced to death or given life without parole, they were still liable to be tried as an adult.

Some researchers believe that as many as two hundred thousand juveniles are prosecuted each year (Trying Youth as Adults Fact Sheet). Kristina Grill was a fifteen year old girl who was secretly seeing a boy because her family didn't approve. They were together for several months and then he broke it off with her. She later found out he got her pregnant. They secretly met up to discuss the baby, and at some point during the talk, her ex-boyfriend pulled out a knife and stabbed her eleven times. Before he left her lying on the ground, he zipped her jacket up and watched her body twitch until she died (Jamriska). This is a clear case of a juvenile who should be tried as an adult. He killed two human beings, Kristina and her baby. This case has yet to conclude because it was so recent but if one were to predict the outcome with the information given he would be given life with parole since he is unable to receive life without parole. Most cases that juveniles will be tried as adults in are dealing with murder, but not all of them.

There has been a new fast track court created for rape cases in New Delhi. The case of the New Delhi Gang Rape where five men were accused in a gang rape is in the process of being moved to this new court. These five men are being accused of kidnapping, rape, and murder. There are multiple pieces of evidence supporting that they are guilty but no decisions have been made in the court