Austin, Cassidy, Angela, Paige

CJ Introduction to Corrections
Article Review When juveniles should be tried as adults
29 April 2014

Chen, Stephanie. (2010, March 15). A journalist covering a case of which a 12 year old boy is
being tried as an adult. Central News Network

Summary:

When should juveniles be tried as an adult, if at all? This has been a very debatable topic
ever since the juvenile courts were created, over one hundred years ago. Every state in the United
States has a different age at when juveniles can be tried as adults. Some states dont even have a
minimum age for certain crimes. Every state tries juveniles as adults at some point. Some states
try juveniles as adults for certain crimes, and some states wont try juveniles as adults until the
juveniles reach a certain age. In Michigan, the offender has to be at least 14 years of age to
qualify as an adult under certain charges.

According to the Juvenile Justice Benchbook: Delinquency and Criminal Proceedings---
Third Edition, Chapter 16--- Automatic Waiver Proceedings, When a juvenile who is 14, 15, or
16 years old commits a specified juvenile violation, 6 the prosecutor may elect to initiate
automatic waiver proceedings by filing a complaint and warrant in district court rather than a
petition in the Family Division of Circuit Court. If the juvenile is bound over for trial following a
preliminary examination, he or she faces trial in a court of general criminal jurisdiction. If the
juvenile is convicted of a specified juvenile violation, he or she must be sentenced in the same
manner as an adult if the conviction is for any of 12 enumerated very serious specified juvenile
violations.

In the article reviewed, Stephanie Chen, a journalist from the Central News Network,
reports on a case in Pennsylvania; a 12 year old boy charged with the first degree double murder
of his pregnant mother. In Michigan, the boy would have to be at the age of 14 to be tried as an
adult. However, there is no excuse for murder. If this 12 year old boy committed the double
murder in Michigan, he should be tried as an adult. The age of which juveniles should be tried as
adults should be lowered to at least 12 years of age in the state of Michigan.





Supporting Argument:

Michigan should lower the age of when juveniles can be tried as adults to at least 12
years old. It would show wrong-doers what happens when you commit the unforgivable. Murder
and rape are two of the worst things any person could do. Supporters of this opinion suggest that
juveniles know the difference between right and wrong so they should be punished as adults. We
think that the age of being able to be criminally viewed as an adult should be lowered.

Murderers and rapists at the ages of 12 to 17 should not serve minor terms of juvenile
detention. They should be tried as adults for their heinous crimes. Several years ago, a 12 year
old shot and killed an 18 year old stranger in northern Detroit. Since he was only 12 at the time,
he could not be sentenced as an adult. Therefore, they had to sentence the boy to serve his time
in a juvenile detention center until he was 19 to see if he was able to get off his crime or go into
the adult correctional system. He should have been sentenced as an adult and serve an adult
sentence.

Opposing Argument:

Those opposed to trying juveniles as adults argue that since humans brains dont fully
develop until theyre 25 years old, juveniles shouldnt be tried as adults at all. Others that oppose
trying juveniles as adults claim that locking up juveniles with hardened criminals does more
harm than good. We think that juveniles need to be taught a lesson. The best lesson is to see what
theyve done as wrong.

While the biggest argument against trying juveniles as adults point out that the brain isnt
fully developed until people are the age of 25, another group see it as cruel and unusual
punishment to try and convict juveniles as adults. This is an interesting argument due solely to
the fact that the 8
th
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is extremely vague on what cruel and
unusual punishment is exactly. We agree that juveniles at the age of 12 and older know the
difference between right and wrong. Therefore they should be tried and convicted as adults. They
just need to be separated from adults.







Conclusion:

Juveniles definitely should be tried as adults under certain circumstances. Murder and
rape are such heinous crimes that would require juveniles to be tried as adults. There is no excuse
for murdering someone and/or raping someone. Juveniles at the age of 12 should know the
difference from right and wrong. Even though others argue against this, juveniles should be tried
as adults for these crimes.