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Mark Siracusa
Mrs. Fudala
English 4A
How would you feel if someone in your family was brutally murdered by an
adolescent? With the increasing amount of crime being committed by juveniles, officials
are trying to come up with ways to prevent such transgression from ever occurring. More
and more teens are committing crimes they know they can get away with because of their
age. Juveniles know how far they can go before they really get themselves into trouble
they cannot get out of. Usually when you are being tried as a juvenile the punishment is
less severe. If a juvenile commits murder he or she has the knowledge of the crime they
have committed. Juveniles should be no less accountable than adults, and treating them as
However, juveniles differ from adults in more than just their age. They do not
possess an adult’s capacity to judge and allowing them to be tried as adults is inconsistent
with many other laws addressing juvenile behavior. Imagine that you are a parent whose
son or daughter has been killed by a 14-year-old. The teenager is brought to court, found
guilty of the crime and the judge sentences him to two years in a juvenile facility, after
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which he will be free with not even a criminal record to follow him. Many people see
these light sentences that some juveniles receive for serious crimes as being a mere slap
on the wrist and demand that a greater action is taken. Dr. Don Boys, of the Christian
Conservative think tank Common Sense for Today and a former member of the Indiana
House of Representatives, has a forceful argument against leniency: We are told that kids
murder, mug and maim because they grew up in poverty; however, poverty doesn’t cause
crime; crime causes poverty! Juveniles, like adults, commit crimes because they choose
to do so. And they must be held accountable…. When young criminals kill and rape, they
should be treated like adults, even executing them! Most of us are horrified at that
thought, but if capital punishment can be defended then who is to say one must be 21? If
a 16-year-old commits a vicious murder, who says he should not pay with his life? … So
the message to kids should be clear, concise and conclusive. No free ride until 18. No
community service for rape and murder. Even the dullest teen will understand that society
considers leniency lunacy and a thing of the past. Dr. Boys does not stand alone in his
opinions. Surveys of the American public have revealed that most people are in favor of
treating juveniles as adults in many cases. In the Winter 2000 issue of Juvenile and
Family Court Journal, Dr. Bohsiu Wu, an assistant professor of sociology and deputy
project director at the Center for Delinquency and Crime Policy Studies at California
State University at Sacramento, published a paper that supported this. According to his
study that analyzed a 1995 National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice conducted by
the Criminal Justice Center’s Survey Research Program at Sam Houston State University,
68.3 percent of adults were in favor of trying juveniles as adults in crimes involving theft
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or property damage; 73.5 percent agreed that juveniles charged in drug violations should
be sent to criminal court; and 90.8 percent of people surveyed felt that juveniles accused
of violent crimes against persons should be tried in adult court. Similarly, supporters of
strict criminal legislation believe that sending juveniles to criminal courts where they can
receive life in prison or capital punishment, will not only provide fairer sentences for
those who commit horrible crimes but also will deter others from doing the same. “If a
minor realizes that he or she might receive a lengthy sentence in prison or execution,
rather than just being sent to a juvenile facility until the age of 18, they are more likely to
think twice before committing a crime” (Rosado). Marcia Satterthwaite, writer of a study
published in Juvenile Crime, noted that there were no good empirical studies on cause
and effect, but interviews with juvenile offenders did provide evidence that minors were
aware of their actions and that this could influence their behavior. The study, said
Satterthwaite, Reports the findings of a series of interviews with adolescents in New York
who self-report a dramatic reduction in criminal involvement at the age of majority, that
is, the age at which they become subject to the punishments of the adult court. As one
youth who recently turned 16 (the age of majority in New York) says, “When you are a
boy, you can be put into a detention home. But you can go to jail now. Jail ain’t no place
to go.” Another adolescent … saw his 1-4 year sentence [in a juvenile facility] as “easy.
I’ll just do my year and get out, it ain’t nothing.” But he advised his friend who continued
However, juveniles differ from adults in more than just age. Many psychiatrists
and psychologists agree that juveniles are not the same as adults and that transferring
them to criminal courts is therefore and injustice. “Recent brain studies indicate that
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children and adolescents process emotionally in the part of their brain responsible for
instinct and gut reaction” (McCormick). Strong emotions can cloud or distort judgments
for both adults and juveniles, but teens experience more frequent mood swings.
“Juveniles lack the cognitive and emotional maturity of adults, are less able to think
rationally or clearly when faced with emotionally charged decisions and should be held
Not only do juveniles differ from adults in their mental development, but they are
also recognized to be different under many other important laws. These include those
covering smoking, drinking, driving, voting, gambling, jury duty, curfews, marriage, and
military service. “Laws that set the legal age for driving at 16, smoking and voting at 18,
and drinking at 21, recognize that younger people lack the maturity and experience
necessary to make wise choices regarding substances, devices, or powers that can be
dangerous if misused” (Garner). Given the general acceptance of these laws as just and
appropriate, you might ask why there isn’t a national consensus against treating juveniles
as adults when it comes to crime. “This represents an inconsistency in the law that can be
Michigan, he is prohibited by law to do so, but if he commits assault with a gun he will
There has been a rise in juvenile crime that in turn led to tougher laws and increased the
number of juvenile transfers to criminal courts. This is helping to deter crime amongst
juveniles and letting them see that they should be no less accountable than adults.
Juveniles who can commit such an “adult” crime should be charged accordingly because
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they are aware that every action has a consequence. Brutal crimes committed by minors