Should Juveniles Be Transfered To Adult Courts

Essay, Research Paper

Should Juveniles Be Transferred To Adult Courts.

Children have been described as our future, our greatest resource, and our hope for a better tomorrow. For many Americans, though, children invoke fear. They represent violence, a segment of society lacking in self-control and devoid of ethics and morals, and the failure of the family to instill traditional values, chief among them being the value of human life and respect for others.

Fear of crime, especially random violence and new wave of “superpredators” by young Americans, is among the nation’s greatest concerns (Lacayo 28). It has served as the motivation for countless numbers of people to change their lifestyles, take self-defense classes, install home security systems, and carry handguns for protection. Moreover, fear of crime has influenced politicians and laypersons to adopt the position that a conservative justice system, which seeks to punish and deter, holds the most promise in curtailing juvenile crime. Waiving juveniles to criminal court and imposing criminal penalties, according to the conservative position, are effective ways for society to express outrage for the transgressions of “out of control” youth and pacify its desire for retribution.

Recent reports issued by the Justice Department have shown an alarming rise in juvenile crime, while the headlines have spotlighted particularly heinous acts performed by very young children. The violence and actions committed by very young children have severely tested the ability of the criminal justice system to establish impartial guidelines for dealing with young criminals. Historically, juveniles have always presented a difficult problem for the courts, which must determine whether there exists an arbitrary age at which a child can be held responsible for their actions and whether age alone should be the determining factor in sentencing.

On June 6, 1996, a 6 year-old boy believed to have been the youngest person ever charged with attempted murder in the United States had the charges reduced to assault with intent to injure in Martinez, California. The boy accused of the brutal beating of a month-old infant during the burglary of a neighbor’s apartment (Curtius A3-A23). The court considered him too young to help in his own defense, and a psychiatric evaluation ruled him unable to understand the consequences of his acts. Charles Patrick Ewing (1990) writes, “the stakes are high when a court decides whether a juvenile murder defendant will be tried as a juvenile or as and adult. Generally a youth tried in juvenile court faces a rather limited punishment if found guilty” (p. 151).

Judge Justine Wise Polier (1989), a veteran of the juvenile justice system in America, observes, “Born of generous impulses, justice for youth was flawed from the outset” (159). Prior to 1899, young criminals were divided into two classes under the law. Children below the age of 7 could not be tried at all, since the law considered them incapable of criminal thoughts or activities. Between the ages of 7 and 14, the law believed that children could differentiate between right and wrong and could therefore be tried for certain criminal behaviors at the discretion of the courts. Children legally became adults at age 14 and could then be treated as adults. Consequently, the laws that are to be voted on presently can break-up the juvenile justice system, which was established in Chicago in 1899 (Lacayo 28).

Until 1967, when the Supreme Court ruled on a particularly outrageous case, juvenile courts did not routinely follow due process. Children could be arrested, tried, and convicted without being allowed time or resources to mount a proper defense, confront accusers, examine evidence, or support themselves of the other protections allowed in an adult court. The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act of 1974 consolidated previous laws concerning juveniles, institutionalizing and formalizing the juvenile justice system. In 1978, the criminal record of one teenager inspired the New York State Legislature to pass the Juvenile Offender Law. Between the ages 9 and 15, Willie Boskett committed more than 2,000 crimes, culminating in an eight-day spree of robbery and the murder of two people. Under existing laws, he was sentenced to the maximum penalty allowed at that time: five years custody by the New York State Division for Youth. The new legislation allowed juveniles as young as 13 to be tried as adult for the commission of certain violent crimes (http://www.ncjrs.org/ojjhome.htm).

The state of Minnesota totally revamped its juvenile justice system, matter of fact it was “it’s biggest…overhaul in 50 years” (Pesce 2A). The law took effect January 1, 1995 and is based on a seven-part crackdown rule. Rather than keep amending laws to just teach youngsters a lesson, Minnesota has adopted these guidelines to punish juveniles as well as being a learning tool. The bottom line is that it will make it a lot easier to prosecute 16 and 17 year-olds in adult courts for the momentous crimes. Also, they will receive both juvenile and adult sentences, and if the juvenile sentence isn’t followed accordingly then the adult sentence will take effect (Pesce 2A).

Numerous examples illustrate the wide range of penalties the courts have initiated across the country in their attempts to deal with violent juvenile crime. When 5 year- old