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Should juvenile offenders be tried, sentenced, and jailed as adults? :

On the topic of Juvenile offenders being tried, sentenced and jailed as adults,

Researcher and Journalist Mike Allen claims that report after report have concluded

that trying teens as adults does nothing to deter crime -- and that sending teens to adult

prison makes them more likely to become repeat offenders. While I agree thatsentencing a youth offender to a term of punishment to be carried out with adult

offenders may continue the devastating cycle of violence in our culture, I do not agree

that juvenile offenders should receive a smaller sentence or easier punishment on the

basis of the affects of cross imprisonment. Instead I would argue that the justice system

of America must evolve to adequately evaluate and implement punishment and reform

that is conducive to the development of juvenile offenders. Youth crime in America is

becoming an unavoidable circumstance that is poisoning our culture and hindering

many of our youth from the ability to pursue fulfilled and successful lives. Just as

Derrion Albert was an innocent bystander who loss his life to reckless and senseless

acts of violence, our world has lost its viable claim of goodness to acts of hate against

humanity.

Something must be done Not tomorrow and not when the government is adequately

over arguing the cases of health care reform, unjust politics and the influx of income

made and redistributed illegally and unethically. Our world MUST focus on our youth.

TODAY, right now! We are loosing the right to continue to call ourselves ethical and

moral beings, when everyday, another youth, another child, when one more innocent

life is lost to violence.

The issue of trying juveniles as adults, sentencing them and jailing them involves arange of legal, ethical, developmental, emotional, and pragmatic issues that need to be

discussed. Issues that we, as a community MUST face together, outside of blame,

regardless of cultural differences or backgrounds, aside from income and educational

standards. Trying juveniles as adults calls into question our ability to provide a stable

environment of humanity in which they can grow and learn, and reproduce actions of

positivity and not destruction.

A November 2007 report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention finds thatteens sent to adult facilities commit more crimes on average than those sent to juvenile

facilities. A study in New Jersey found that juveniles transferred to adult facilities are 39percent more likely to be rearrested for a violent offense than are teens in juveniledetention.

In Pennsylvania, teens housed in adult prisons for a violent offense had a 77 percentgreater likelihood of being rearrested for a new violent offense than youth in juveniledetention. Juveniles jailed as adults in Minnesota were 26 percent more likely to be

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reconvicted. A study in Florida found similar results for teens arrested for violentfelonies.

Second, transferring more juveniles to brandish the threat of adult punishment doesntseem to deter other teens from criminal activity. A study in Idaho found increased

violence after a law mandating transfer of violent juvenile felons passed. Studies in NewYork and Pennsylvania saw no positive effect of transfers on crime.

Finally, increasing transfers doesnt appear to save money. While the juvenile systemsintensive services cost more than jail does, most youthespecially violent offendersstay longer in adult jails than they would in juvenile facilities, boosting costs. And, CDCstatistics suggest that the community will experience more crime (and more costs fromcrime) over the long-run.