Sentencing of Juveniles - 2625 Words

The Sentencing of Juveniles Today, we live in a society faced with many problems, including crime and the fear that it creates. In the modern era, juveniles have become a part of society to be feared, not rehabilitated. The basis of the early juvenile justice system was to rehabilitate and create safe havens for wayward youth. This is not the current philosophy, although the U.S. is one of the few remaining countries to execute juveniles. Presently, our nation is under a presidential administration that strongly advocates the death penalty, including the execution of juveniles. The media and supporters of capital punishment warn of the superpredator, the juvenile with no fear, remorse, or conscience. Opponents of this view†¦show more content†¦Almost all juvenile offenders (ninety-eight percent) sentenced to death were males. The four cases involving female juveniles were in the deep south (Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia) and in Indiana. The thirteen very young offenders (age fifteen at crime) were scattered across ten different states. All sixty-nine juvenile offenders on death row were male and had been convicted and sentenced to death for murder. More than three-quarters of these cases involved seventeen-year-old offenders, and two-thirds of them were minority offenders. In contrast, eighty-three percent of the victims were adults. Two-thirds of the victims were white, and nearly half were females. The paradigm case of the juvenile offender on death row is that of the seventeen-year-old African-American or Latino male whose victim is a white adult. (Streib). Debate about the use of the death penalty for juveniles has grown more intense in light of calls for the harsher punishment of serious and violent juvenile offenders, The cry for the death penalty is most loudly heard when referring to it as a deterrent. According to Allen Kale, it is estimated that about 76% of the American public support the use of the death penalty as a deterrent, however that support drops to less than 9% when referring specifically to juveniles. (Kale). Opponents believe it fails as a deterrent and is inherently cruel and point to the risk of wrongful conviction. TheShow MoreRelatedJuvenile Sentencing974 Words   |  4 PagesJuvenile courts have a wide range of sentencing options (usually called disposition orders) that they can impose on juveniles or youth offenders who are found to be delinquent (that is, finding that the minor violated a criminal law). Typically, disposition options fall into two camps: incarceration and non-incarceration. One non-incarcera tion option in particular -- probation -- forms the backbone of the juvenile justice system. Read on to learn about the different kinds of sentencing optionsRead MoreJuvenile Sentencing : Juvenile Crime Essay793 Words   |  4 Pages Juvenile Sentencing Juvenile crime has skyrocketed to an all-time high, mainly in the big cities. The major problem is kids doing crimes and not being punish severely enough due to the lack of sentencing. Today’s generation knows how to beat the system because of the sentencing guidelines. Most of the kids in Florida knew that a simple misdemeanor charge they could be released the next day. During the years from 1997-2013 the amount of kids committed to juvenile facilities has dropped fromRead MoreJuvenile Sentencing And Juvenile Justice941 Words   |  4 Pagesevery single state has altered its juvenile program in reply to observed increases in serious, persistent, and pugnacious youth crime. These adjustments weaken the power of juvenile courts as legal decisions and statutory adjustments transfer more youths from juvenile courts to criminal courts so that youthful offenders can be sentenced as adults. Corrections to juvenile sentencing regulations perpetuate the punitiveness of sanctions made accessible to juvenile court judges. Supplementary strategiesRead More Sentencing of Juveniles Essay2553 Words   |  11 PagesThe Sentencing of Juveniles Today, we live in a society faced with many problems, including crime and the fear that it creates. In the modern era, juveniles have become a part of society to be feared, not rehabilitated. The basis of the early juvenile justice system was to rehabilitate and create safe havens for wayward youth. This is not the current philosophy, although the U.S. is one of the few remaining countries to execute juveniles. Presently, our nation is under a presidential administrationRead MoreProper Sentencing For Juvenile Murderers908 Words   |  4 PagesProper Sentencing for Juvenile Murderers Juveniles should not receive severe adult sentences for the murders they commit due to their underdeveloped prefrontal cortex not allowing them to fully process decisions and consequences at a young age. In fact, the prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain where decision making originates and does not fully develop until the age of 25. Furthermore, sentencing a juvenile as an adult while they are at an impulsive age and subject to peer pressure is resultingRead MoreAnnotated Bibliography On Juvenile Crime And Sentencing1510 Words   |  7 Pages Skip Hollandsworth candidly explores the subjects of juvenile crime and sentencing in the electronic long form newspaper article, â€Å"The Prisoner†. The purpose of the essay is to inform the reader about juvenile sentencing and to persuade the audience that there are clear problems with aspects of the U.S. prison system. The article is easily accessible to a large audience because it is online. Hollandsworth takes into account th at his audience, mostly consisting of Texas Monthly readers, may alreadyRead MoreThe Benefits of Juvenile Sentencing to Service Essay891 Words   |  4 PagesSentencing to Service (STS) is a sentencing option available to most Courts where a convicted offender works off† his/her fine by performing a specified number of hours of public service work under the supervision of a work crew leader employed by the state or a local corrections agency. Courts may also sentence offenders to STS rather than jail or workhouse time. STS was established in 1986 by the Minnesota Department of Corrections along with several County Sheriff’s Departments, communityRead MoreMaking Poor Decisions : The Sentencing Age For Juveniles1257 Words   |  6 Pagessome juveniles, those poor decisions consist of the commission of criminal offenses, which can automatically set them up for failure in their adult lives. P1 P2 Taking the initiative to change the sentencing age for juveniles will help America not only use funds in a more constructive way, but will also help youth learn from their mistakes without being permanent. In 2004, WSIPP found that those programs such as functional family therapy and aggression replacement training help juveniles controlRead MoreThe Recidivism Rate of Juvenile Sex Offenders between Uses of Legal Sentencing as Adults or Utilizing Psychological Treatment2308 Words   |  10 PagesThe Recidivism Rate of Juvenile Sex Offenders between Uses of Legal Sentencing as Adults or Utilizing Psychological Treatment It is typically thought that sex offenders are the type of individual that needs to be tried in our courts and then sentenced because there is really no hope for an individual that harms the most innocent of our society. But there just may be an exception to this way of thinking. Juveniles who at one point themselves may have been victims, and as they have grown into adolescenceRead MoreDeterminate Sentencing: Last Chance in Texas Essay1325 Words   |  6 PagesFor Determinate Sentencing Determinate sentencing is becoming more popular in juvenile courts. It is a special statute that allows for the possibility of a juvenile serving a sentence beyond the age of 21. It specifically covers certain violent offenses and drug cases, like murder, capital murder, sexual assault, and indecency with a child. Aggravated controlled substances cases are also covered (TYC website). The alternative to determinate sentencing is blended sentencing, which allows judges to