Juvenile offenders should be held accountable for their actions, as should any criminal. Depending on the severity of their criimes, they should face the same punishment for the same crime as adults if adults commited them.

Juvenile Offenders should be punished as Adults

Introduction

With the concern of the growing number of juvenile offenders and the severity of their crimes , youthful offenders should be held accountable for their actions like any other criminal . Moreover , juvenile offenders should face similar punishment for the same crime as adults if adults committed them

For most of the twentieth century , the treatment of juveniles as a separate and distinct category of offenders was intended to be informal confidential , non-stigmatizing , regenerative , and benevolent Conversely , the reality was that in return for

these potential benefits juveniles received few legal rights and protections . However , in the 1960s , when constitutional due process rights were expanded dramatically for adults , the issue of procedural due process for accused juvenile offenders became more prominent

Nevertheless , attendant costs came along with the "due process revolution " in juvenile procedures . According to Regnery (1989 , many policy makers felt that if juveniles were going to receive adult-like protections , they should be exposed to adult-like sanctions . Aimed at serious , violent , and persistent youthful offenders , the result has been increasingly punitive procedures (p . 190

Whereas juvenile procedures in the U .S . have become more adult-like for all offenders , it would be interesting to note that the juvenile justice system is becoming both more punitive and less punitive at the same time . In one way , justice system has adopted more stringent measures such as mandatory or determinate sentences and additional transfers of juvenile offenders to adult courts . On the other hand , some juveniles are less frequently and less severely sanctioned by juvenile courts

How the Situation is right now in the US

The onset of the 21st century has brought about significant changes in the implementation of U .S . juvenile justice policy notwithstanding a full consideration of what research on the development of child has to say about the wisdom of such changes . Changes that are being referred to here are the apparent increasing number of juvenile offenders being prosecuted and sentenced as if they were adults

From the beginning of the existence of a separate juvenile justice system a vital boundary has been set out separating juvenile from criminal court . This boundary comes in the form of a rationale that there are significant psychological differences between adolescents and adults and such differences are provoked by the normal process of development , age-related , and legally relevant . theless , this boundary is only violated in extreme cases of dangerousness and when the offender 's age approaches the upper bound of the juvenile court 's jurisdiction

All states in the U .S . allow juveniles to be tried as if they were adults in criminal court under certain conditions . Generally , there are three broad mechanisms that can be used to achieve this : First is the Judicial Waiver wherein a juvenile court judge may transfer the case to criminal court based on a variety of factors , including the seriousness of the offense , the maturity of the offender , and the likelihood of the offender 's rehabilitation . Except for five states , this...