To be determined as a juvenile, in most states, the age limit is 18, but some do consider 16 to be the cut off. In a juvenile court, the defendant is only seen by a judge and does not have the right to a jury, the opposite of Criminal Court. The main difference between these two courts is the Juvenile Court focuses on rehabilitation for the child, while the Criminal Court focuses on punishment. In both cases, the defendant has the right to an attorney, to confront and cross-examine witnesses, the privilege against self-incrimination, notice of the charges, and proof beyond a reasonable doubt for a guilty conviction(Legalmatch 1). Another difference is that the adolescent in a juvenile court is charged for delinquent acts rather than crimes. Although sentencing juveniles as adults has a more certain or severer punishment proportional to the the crime, the effects of sentencing juveniles as adults is often seen as too harsh prior from the criminal record, because sending them to juvenile prison is a better environment which can help reduce youth crime rates.
Pro Activists logic is flawed when they are wanting certain juveniles being treated as adults in court. Writer, Charles D. Stimson , of the New York Times says, “But that’s not possible or appropriate in every case. Some juveniles commit crimes so horrific in their depravity that justice could not be carried out in the juvenile system. Other crimes, and their perpetrators, evince maturity commensurate with adult punishment.
An example spanning both classes was 16-year-old Sarah Johnson’s plot to murder her parents and pin the crime on an intruder. Her case was transferred to adult court, and Johnson was convicted and sentenced to life in prison”(Stimson 1). The amount of crimes are going up because people are trialing children as adults and pro activists are accounting for that to actually decrease rates. It is blunt in the way these courts are helping the country. While it does give an example of a court case, in which he thought the girl should be tried as a an adult, he doesn't give any statistics on how this will help. The audience should know how this will help in the long run and not just in this one situation. If the criminal records are going down because of this, the readers should see why and how.
According to people who believe juveniles should not be put into adult court punishment is too severe, therefore increasing the amount of youth committing violent crime. Studies are being found that delinquents who are received in adult court recidivate to usual crime. Nicole Scialabba a staff attorney at Legal Services of Central New York says, “Juveniles in adult court often do not have the opportunity to acquire critical skills, competencies, and experiences that are crucial to their success as adults; rather, they are subject to an environment in which adult criminals become their teachers” (Scialabba 1). If a bear hangs out with the wolves, the bear becomes a wolf.(metaphor) This is metaphorically saying that if people involve themselves with the wrong crowd, then we become apart of the crowd. If an adolescent is sent to jail with adults who have conducted crimes the same or worse content than the juvenile, then they can be influenced to commit even worse felonies. Adults in jail are not known to be “good role models,” regardless of them turning into mentors. When the younger people around them here about the experiences, they can obtain knowledge on how to execute the same crime or a worse one. Statistically when juveniles are put into adult prison they were found to be arrested 82 percent more of the time but their adult counterparts were only arrested 16 percent less of the time(Scialabba 1). The real prisons for adults are too violent for a child and if they are interacting with that environment their situation could become worse.
The rehabilitation centers offered for the juvenile are there to mentor them and provide a safer and gentle, but strict environment to rewrite the wrongs of a child and therefore is better than prisons. Kelie Darbouze, a researcher at The McNair Scholars Program University of Maryland, College Park, finds juveniles: “Receiving adequate treatment that rehabilitates the juvenile offender so they are less likely to recidivate. Making sure the juvenile delinquent has realistic and obtainable resources and means to make it in society. Making sure the juvenile delinquent is fully aware and ready for the transition back into society”(Darbouze 105). When youth are able to have a rehabilitation center, it gives them the opportunity to improve lifestyles. With the access to the rehabilitation centers they will not be beaten which is more common in adult prisons. The prisons that juveniles are sent to when they are trialed as an adult can be brutal. There are not so horrible beatings(Litotes) that let alone can cause bone fractures, bruising, and other terrible injuries.
Juveniles are called “juveniles” for a reason: according to Merriam Webster Dictionary it means, “ physiologically immature or undeveloped”(Merriam-Webster), or the legal definition, “of or relating to young people who have committed or are accused of committing a criminal offense”(Merriam-Webster).This means they are at a young age where they have different types of procedures and rules to follow when it comes to being prosecuted. Even in the definition it says, “immature” and if they are immature while criminal adults are “mature”(irony), then their brains are not fully developed and we need a separate court of law for them. Even though there might be minor benefits for trialing these adolescents as adult, the repercussions of these actions are too permanate that the crime has a lasting effect. The government has a separate court of law for them but there are cases where they believe a 14 year old should be put in a criminal court for adult crime, why do we even have Juvenile Court? If there are even the minimal amount of cases dealing with this, no matter the crime, no matter the age, no matter the history, (Anaphora) there is no use for a Juvenile Court.
Why should we not trial juveniles as adults? To conclude the adolense have undeveloped brains and when they are not able to develop to full capacity then they could stay in that immaturity level. The children need to be appropriately categorized from the adult prisons because of the violence they will experience is too detrimental. What is the solution, one may ask? The solution is to keep juvenile prison and adult prison separate no matter the crime allowing them to live a healthier lifestyle. If there is no separation then a young one may just repeat the same crime because of the adult counterparts who are influencing them in prison.