Open Letter
Whoever is reading this I imagine a High School er in class wanting to get some knowledge or a reporter who is interested in the topic to release on newspaper, website, podcast or to the world. So More people will understand what is going on in the Juvenile Justice system weather juveniles should be charged as an adult when they commit serious crimes. My position about whether juveniles should be charged as an adult when they commit serious crimes is that they should not. I have evidence stating that juveniles should not be charged, in an article it states that Some of the cases that involve youth offenders are severe enough that they get transferred into an adult criminal court proceeding. Going to an adult criminal facility at an age where you don't know a thing or too can be dangerous for a minor. For having a little experience, I have an idea by watching criminal minds, beyond scared straight those two shows, have similar cases as in real life. Many people might say juvenile should be charged with adult crimes because children or teens know what they are doing in the moment of the crime they committed. In the article “Should 11- Year Old be Charged With Adult Crimes” it states “ Fourteen states have no minimum age at which children can be prosecuted as adults, according to the Equal Justice Initiative”. Those states are Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia which means there is an increased risk where kids or teens can be sexual, physical,psychological abuse. A human rights activist name (T.J. Parsell) who wants to end sexual evidence propose a 17 year old who set a trash can on fire. Went to an adult prison who was raped repeatedly then later hanged himself inside his cell. Youth advocacy reported that juveniles are 36 times more likely to committed suicide. The charges a juvenile can be sent to an adult prison is called a delinquent act. A delinquent act is an act committed and would be considered a crime if the crime was committed by an adult. If a child is committed with a delinquent act, they will go to court in juve and not be trail as an adult. Example of crimes juveniles can get charged for is Vandalism and graffiti charges, Shoplifting and other petty theft charges, Simple assault especially due to fighting incidents, Underage drinking violations, and Joyriding a car. After the crime they committed they go through a process with the court, the Juvenile Court. The juvenile court system is a system that handles youth who did one of the examples of crimes. The system is dealt with the federal and many separate states, territorial, local jurisdiction and shares with police power under the authority with the constitution. The juvenile can face up to probation, community service, youth court, youth incarceration and alternative schooling. Which I agree but much worse, if we are talking about murder and if he attended to kill someone. Take in their knowledge of the court and the system. Going back in the 1990s the first juvenile court was in Illinois in 1899 based on abandonment and crime founded in Chicago. The age a juvenile is neglected is 18, but the age can drastically change based on the state (one of the states above) and I believe crime. The trail at that time was a time where children and youth were seen as “miniature adults” which is children viewed as an adult small in height, weight and weak in physical strength but has a mind of an adult or to me a criminal mind. Another reason why juvenile should not go to prison is that there are pros and cons the pros to some people are bringing kids to extreme justice for extreme crimes which means how ever age you are if that child or teen murder a family member. The family who was in this tragic event should get justice killed by a juvenile offender. Another Pro is Courts focus on age instead of the crime for an example, a 10 year old boy who has no feeling killing someone will still be given extreme lazy sentence because of his age. Now the Cons are crimes follow, the child or teen throughout his or her entire life will not have the decently to have a decent job in the near future. To cover my position of my choice is that I don't agree with children or teen going to an adult prison because I don't want them to ruin their lives just do serious punishment tours there crime.