Raising The Age - 1517 Words

CRJ 242 Avinash Ramkumar â€Å"Raise the Age† Going back to the early days of American history, there were very little made to distinguish criminal responsibility of children versus that of adults. During this time, juveniles, some young as seven years old could be tried and prosecuted within an adult criminal court. Children would have to stand for trial in court based on the offenses they committed, and could then be sentenced to prison and sometimes possibly even capital punishment. Is this form of justice beneficial to minors, or does it just obstruct their futures? Children, as young as the age of seven faced many challenges while they were held with adult criminals. Some of these challenges involved: exploitation, overpopulation within†¦show more content†¦Due to this, there were a number of changes that were made within the 1960s in an effort to put a foot down on juvenile crime. There were several decisions made by the Supreme Court that formalized courts for juveniles, making them more like criminal courts. Formal hearings were required, juveniles who faced confinement were given the right to receive a notice of the charges being held against them, and also came along the right to be represented by an attorney. In the 1980’s the public noticed that juvenile crimes were rising and that the system was not effective. Soon states began implementing disciplinary laws, some which included a mandatory sentencing and automatically being sent to adult court for certain crimes committed. Whether or not we should try juveniles as adults has always been a controversial issue. First of all, â€Å"juveniles† are children who fall under the age of 18. However, the legal age varies within certain states across the USA. Despite the age difference, some juveniles are still tried as adults. Does convicting a juvenile as an adult, turn out to be a better problem-solver, and how is this affecting the deterrence of crime? One side argues that regardless of the age, crimes are still crimes. Just because a child commits the crime doesn’t mean that the victim didn t indeed suffer from it. Juveniles should be tried as adults because it will not only make