There has always been debate whether minors who commit violent crimes should be tried as adults. The debate has been triggered by the ubiquitous scenarios of children, who are yet to be registered as adults, indulging in felonies that compel the law enforcers to subject then to the full force of the law. Ugly incidences of killings and maiming perpetrated by teenagers have become common in America whereby certain states have lowered the age to as low as fourteen where minors will be tried as adults for felony charges. The Texan law, for example, has a procedure known as “certification” where teenage felons are remanded in adult jails, tried in adult courts and punished as adults usually in adult jails (UCLA, School of Law, 2010).
Whereas the system of justice covering juveniles was enacted to facilitate character rehabilitation for minors in small offences, there has been an observation that these youths are banking on this friendly approach to graduate to violence and bloodshed (Estudillo, 2008). Teenagers have been known to go on a shooting spree leaving behind a gory picture of terror. Such occurrences have pushed the American lawmakers to push for sterner measures where the young felons are not accorded preferential treatment based on their age. In such instances, it is agreed that “a crime is a crime (Estudillo, 2008)” and the law should be harder on the criminal. Otherwise, a sympathetic approach would present the law as against the victim.
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There are certain factors concerning the felon and the felony that serve in ascertaining whether a minor should be tried as an adult. It is therefore often taken that such individuals are beyond redemption, several times offenders and violent criminals (Redding, 2004). It is accepted that a rehabilitation system would not be of help to them ant that they will eventually return to their criminal activities. In this light, the law suggests that handling them as adults will shake them back to reality and remind them that they are responsible for their actions.
But it has been argued that the minors being sent through an adult justice system are not a total representation of youth rot. A study of the Texan system reveals that less than a fifth of the offenders are homicidal felons. Indeed, a lesser number involved non-violent offences some of which were state jail offences. Three in every four offenders, more so, do not have a former criminal record that indicates repeated violence (Estudillo, 2008). It is also evident that many are first-time offenders. On the other hand, the justice system is hypocritical in its suggestion that taking the minors through adult justice system would help solve the crime problem. Bearing in mind that even repeated adult felons at times fail to go through the correction system, it is outrageous to hope that the procedure will work for the minors. Adult offenders, out of mental incapacity, have showcased criminal activities that are beyond the harness of the adult justice system (Redding, 2004). Considering that a minors mind could be more unstable when ill, the justice system should make critical considerations when subjecting them to adult justice.
In conclusion, the divided opinion as to whether young offenders who indulge in violent activities should be taken through an adult justice system seems to come from diverse perspectives. On one side there is the idea that the youths are taking advantage of the sympathetic rehabilitation process put in place for them to indulge in serious crimes. On the other side, there is the observation that most minors under the adult justice system are neither violent criminals nor repeated offenders. Add this to consideration for the mental capacity of an individual irrespective of age, would suggest that it is wrong to try minors as adults.
References
Estudillo, M. O. (2008). Juveniles should be tried as adults in certain circumstances. Retrieved from http://www.appohigh.org/ourpages/auto/2016/3/16/38572502/Juveniles%20Tried%20as%20Adults.pdf
Redding, R. E. & Fuller, E. J. (2004). What do juvenile offenders know about being tried as adults? Implications for deterrence. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 35-44.
UCLA School of Law (2010). The impact of prosecuting youth in the adult criminal justice system. Retrieved from https://www.campaignforyouthjustice.org/documents/UCLA-Literature-Review.pdf
