Should Minors Be Sentenced and Incarcerated as An Adult?

The are many challenges behind a very controversial issue. The controversial issue at

hand is should we sentence, prosecute, and incarcerate minors as adults for violent and or

nonviolent crimes? And if so at what age should the law consider to be proper and suitable to

the crime and the charges brought against the minor? A Couple of things that a lot of people

have a problem with are, a majority of minors that end up going to an adult jail or prison are

sexually assaulted in one manner or another within 48 hours of being processed into which

ever adult facility that they are processed into. I have done a lot of research on this and I am

more than happy to share what I have learned now let our journey begin with: First I read

from the creditable website genfkd.org that adolescents are more likely to commit suicide

either due to sexual trauma or a mental disorder that they may not have had prior to being

incarcerated, of those that experience some sort of trauma while incarcerated typically

become a statistic, and the statistic they fall under is: tragically, youth housed in adult jails are

36 times more likely to commit suicide than those in juvenile facilities. Another rather rare

fact I didn’t even know came from the websites (genfkd.org and act4jj.org), is several minors

that are in some sort of adult facility for a crime are not very well educated, and the jails and

prison are even required by federal law to offer education to the minors, there have been

many reports conducted and they have come back showing that education was not being

offered. I had been researching and came across a fact sheet from the web page act4jj.org and

the members in which this website is comprised from, one of the items from the fact sheet is

another concern that has come up many times is the mental status of the minors because by

federal law the minors are to be separated from the adults by sight and even sound but some

of the states, prisons, and jails refuse to follow that guideline just in a manner to not comply
to delay the court process even longer for the minor/juvenile. I have to say that I strongly

disagree with the fact that the states are not following federal law but I think they do it

because the law is not going to enforce it, but just as well putting the youth and adults

together is ridiculous and stupid the impact of the decisions that the states are making is huge

on the youth it is almost as if the states are just recreating a monster for if that youth is ever

released they are bound to re-offend.

Before we continue with this interesting section of some of the statistics that I had

come across and I found extremely surprising and baffling, I must first present a few statistics

and numbers to help elaborate on the comparison of minors to adult offenders. Currently an

estimated 250,000 youth are tried, sentenced, and incarcerated as adults every year across

the United States. I cannot believe those numbers, that is huge that there are that many young

ones getting in trouble. I mean what ever happen to the good o’l days of going out and playing

in the dirt or at the playground why are so many minors finding trouble to the point that they

are getting involved with the law? Anyways I also found out that on any given day 10,000

youth are detained or incarcerated in the adult prisons and jails that is 7,500 in jails and 2,700

in prisons, respectively, the current youth and the past youth, only make up a small part of

the nation’s crime but thankfully the number is on a decline. Let me give you an idea so back

in 2012 11% of the violent crime arrests and 18% of property crime arrests across the nation

involved only youth. The hard part is knowing that 11 % of the youth reported under the age

18 are arrests, and then even way back since 1995 there has been a 40% drop but despite the

drop the United States still has the highest rate of juvenile incarcerations from technical

juvenile probation violations, drug offenses, public order offenses, status offenses, and low

level property offenses, than any other developed country. As a matter of fact to bring up

another depressing piece of information back in 2010 for every 100,000 incarcerated there
was 225 youth that were locked up and serving some type of time whether they had been

officially convicted and sentenced or not, that is a pretty sad ratio, what makes it worse is

without all the juvenile rights of being tried as a juvenile there ends up being a major impact

on the minor mentally and emotionally, the minors that are affected the most are, 34% more

likely to re-offend and be re-arrested again. After reading some of the information I had come

a crossed I was in rather disbelief that we do not have a very good reform system for the

minors and that it really needs to be re-evaluated from the very top down to the last guard in

every form of incarceration and or rehabilitation facility.

The juveniles now days are being so affected mentally, emotionally, and their

education is definitely suffering there are federal and state laws that grant juveniles the right

to be able to have education while incarcerated, there was a survey done back in 2005 that

found that 40% of the jails and prisons had absolutely no education being provided nor did

they have access to any form of learning materials. Of the many youth that are incarcerated

they had some form of disability (learning disabilities and or other mental disorders) and are

supposed to be provided education that is specific to them and their needs, the same survey

was done and it showed that 11 percent of correctional facilities provided special education

services and an even smaller 7 percent actually provided vocational training. I totally can see

how many may not feel that education in general for minors incarcerated is not very important

and a waste of taxpayers’ money but at the same time if we are willing to offer education to

the adult sector in prisons why would we refrain from offering the same equal education to

the minors. The idea that many juveniles are placed in isolation, which can severely worsen or

even cause mental disorders that have the potential to affect them for the rest of their lives,

I understand the fact of keeping them safe, and keeping order with in from a death, riot, or a

fight breaking out but to isolate them for their own safety is causing mental disorders and
juveniles to have manic episodes which is extremely harsh on the brain and emotions at such

a young age. It has been shown that the lack of education and employment means higher

chances of recidivism, not only is this devastating for these young individuals, it also

perpetuates a larger cycle of youth incarceration that is incredibly expensive to taxpayers as

they must continue to foot the bill for recidivism. Children require special care to stay on

course developmentally, to enable successful return to their family and community, and to

reduce further offending in the future. As the youth are incarcerated they are lucky if they are

provided with any form of rehabilitation if anything at all there are a number of jails and

prisons that just out right will not favor to the youth and feel there is no need for them to

need the services of rehabilitation or education. The thing I feel that is forgotten is that

without education or any form of rehab the youth of our cities, states, and country will

continue to fall back into the dark path and they are more likely to end up where they just

came from and will more then likely will become institutionalized, many of the youth that are

waiting for a conviction in a adult facility have not even been convicted yet. Research has

shown that more then one half of these youth will be sent back to the juvenile justice system

or may not even receive a conviction, most of the youth will spend at least one month in an

adult facility and one in five of those youth will have spent over six months in and adult jail.

Currently, 39 states allow or require that a youth that has been charged as an adult even

though not tried yet they must be held in an adult jail until they are tried. Many children are

often placed in isolation which can produce harmful consequences, including death. Youth are

often locked down 23 hours a day in small cells with no natural light. These conditions can

cause anxiety, paranoia, and worsen existing mental disorders and put youth at risk of suicide.

The next order of business is the idea of those that who are under the age of 18 or as

in the state of Utah 16 years old you can be charged, tried, and sentenced as an adult for even
a non-violent crime, there is a waiver process depending on the juvenile system or adult courts

as to which route they want to take with the waiver a judge waives the protections that

juvenile court provides. If it is a violent crime there is no question about a waiver or not it is

pretty self-explanatory the crappy part I guess you could say is that the juvenile develops a

criminal record which definitely makes it hard for them to get any type of job and even a

harder time finding a place to live. Factors that might lead a court to grant a waiver petition

and transfer a juvenile case to adult court:

 The Juvenile is charged with a particularly serious offense as in homicide or a

violent sexual crime.

 The juvenile has a lengthy juvenile record from committing crimes.

 The minor is older (is close to being 18).

 Past rehabilitation efforts for the juvenile have been unsuccessful and there is

not a possibility of straightening up.

 Youth services would have to work with the juvenile offender for a long time to

get them back on track many times it will cost taxpayers’ a pretty penny so it is

frowned upon to continue working with the adolescent if there is not a good

chance of becoming a good productive member of society.

I have discovered a few extremely interesting facts that I did not know about trying

juveniles as an adult:

 75 percent of all juvenile offenders are boys between the ages of 14 and 17.

 Shimeek Gridene was sentenced to 70 years in prison after he shot a restaurant

worker. The worker lived and was out of the hospital the same day of the

shooting. He was only 14 years old.

  In 2006 a 12-year-old girl killed her entire family for not approving of her

boyfriend. She was only given 10 years.

 Ever since more states have begun trying juveniles as adults in certain

situations, the crime rate among juveniles has dropped significantly.

Though it does suck we still need to keep our youth in line and some form of order for

them, granted sentencing youth as adults costs more and does not reduce crime I mean it is

pricey for our taxpayers but it is better then the utter total chaos we could experience the

chaos as in minors committing crimes like murder, violent sexual acts, and etc. It is said to be

costing America while we are incarcerating young people in juvenile detention centers costs

between $32,000-$65,000 per year and running just one bed over a 20-year period costs

between $1.25 million and $1.5 million.

The New York Times has an article called “Should a child Offender Be Treated as an

Adult” “The cases are very different. In one, a 10-year-old Pennsylvania boy who suffers

mental issues repeatedly punched a 90-year-old woman and choked her by pressing her cane

against her neck, eventually leading to her death. According to a police statement, the woman,

who was in the care of the child’s grandfather, got upset with the boy, which incited his violent

reaction. In another case, a group of teenage football players of Sayreville War Memorial High

School, New Jersey, aged 15 to 17, allegedly performed brutal hazing on new members of the

team, and several of them now face charges of aggravated sexual assault.” “The thread that

ties the two cases is the threat of adult prosecution,” Marsha Levick, the deputy director and

chief counsel of the Juvenile Law Center, told Op-Talk. But another thing they have in

common, Ms. Levick said, was that “each scenario can be properly managed in the juvenile

justice system.” Some bring up the argument that a harsh punishment could serve as a
deterrent for similar behaviors. Victim advocates have said in the past that some children are

beyond redemption. “While juvenile advocates often note that a youth’s brain is still

developing, we all learn from an extremely early age that killing is wrong,” say representatives

of the National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Offenders at The New York Times. Juvenile

prosecutors have many responsibilities that come along with their role, and they extend well

beyond the courtroom, as a matter of a fact cases that involve juveniles, much of the work is

done outside the courtroom. Collaboratively working with other youth-serving agencies in

their communities, prosecutors often play a leadership role in these efforts.

There is a way that we may be able to cut costs on incarcerating youth save about $13

million in cost savings, and if we are to catch the youth with early interventions that prevent

the high-risk youth from engaging in repeat criminal offenses. In terms of prevention,

prosecutors can play a pivotal role by raising awareness in schools and public forums on the

importance of education and the impact of substance abuse, truancy and mental health issues

on offending. Through early intervention efforts, prosecutors can work with schools and other

agencies to find the kids who are showing problem behavior or are at risk of offending and

intervene as early as possible. Using diversion programs, young people can be held

accountable yet not get mired in a system that could have severe long-term consequences on

their future. When young people commit offenses that need to be addressed within the

juvenile justice system, we can use policies and programs that focus on holding them

accountable, while increasing positive changes and reducing re-offending. We can make sure

that interventions include the family and that support is provided within the community. With

the use of effective interventions, the juvenile justice system can supply the motivational

fulcrum necessary for change. While most low-level offenses can be diverted from the juvenile

justice system, young people who are on the pathway to serious offending need our attention.
What this means in a practical sense is that we need to figure out how to find those kids who

pose a threat to community safety and not waste our limited time and resources on those

who do not. All these different forms of rehabilitation can save the public 5.7 million in costs

over time.

Some of the things I understood about juveniles being tried as adults is that While

juveniles may be kids, they should have the ability to distinguish right from wrong, especially

in extreme circumstances. Victims and the families of victims still deserve a sense of justice if

one of their family members is affected or even killed by a juvenile offender. The juvenile

courts have a strong tendency to only focus on the age of the offender rather than the actual

nature and reason for the crime that they committed. A 10-year-old boy who shows no

remorse for his crime would still be given an extremely lax sentence because of his age. Most

states consider children to be adults at the age of 18. This is a very high number because

teenagers have full control over their thoughts and actions. If they do not have the moral

compass instilled in them by that time, then they are very likely to commit more crimes. In the

past few years we have had record numbers of crimes being committed by juvenile offenders.

This is a scary fact because it shows how the boundaries are being more and more blurred for

these young people. Many of them are aware of just how flawed the juvenile justice system is

and use that to their advantage. The juvenile courts do not have a jury, and offenders are not

given a proper trial. Instead the judge makes all the decisions, often with the help of a team

of mediators for the children and their families. By allowing them to be tried as adults, you

give them the ability to have a trial by jury.

The conversation and controversial question at this time is do we prosecute minors

regardless of their age for adult crimes and as an adult? Well after researching this topic and
seeing both sides of the fence the pros and cons and some of the activists that feel that minors

should receive adult sentences. I am actually in the middle I can’t really lean one way or

another it sucks that we treat our youth just as shitty as the adult criminals if not worse but at

the same time I feel that if some minor was to kill someone I know and or even family I would

want them charged as an adult and I am sure I wouldn’t feel any guilt so I feel it is a case by

case scenario. I can see both sides so I am not quite sure how to feel about it I don’t think it is

honestly fair for people to make that form of judgment until they have been in a place where

they have known or been related to someone who may have been sexually assaulted or

murdered by a minor I would have to say emotions play a lot when it comes to such serious

crimes. I would have to say I am leaning more towards being against minors being tried as

adults because of the extreme negative impact it has on them mentally and emotionally and

their development and I feel sympathy for the extremely high numbers of minors that are

getting wrapped up daily in the criminal system even for something pretty petty.

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