Research Paper on "Juveniles Being Tried as Adults"

/>While trying a defendant who has committed a serious offense in the adult criminal justice system may seem appropriate based on the crime, it is important to keep in mind that the juvenile justice system developed separately from the adult criminal justice system for a reason. A "separate juvenile justice system was established in the United States about 100 years ago with the goal of diverting youthful offenders from the destructive punishments of criminal courts and encouraging rehabilitation based on the individual juvenile's needs. This system was to differ from adult or criminal court in a number of ways. It was to focus on the child or adolescent as a person in need of assistance, not on the act that brought him or her before the court" (McCord et al., 2001, p.154).

This was a significant transformation from the earlier approach to criminal justice, which treated even the youngest offenders like criminals. By focusing on the offender as a person in need of aid, rather than primarily as a criminal, the juvenile justice system set itself apart from the adult criminal justice system. The theory was that appropriate intervention by the court could lead to rehabilitation for the offender. The idea of rehabilitation meant that the courts made special efforts to protect the offender's privacy from the public. "Juvenile court proceedings were closed to the public and juvenile records were to remain confidential so as not to interfere with the child's or adolescent's ability to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society" (McCord et al., 2001, p.154).

The differences in juvenile court meant that juvenile offenders were often treated more leniently than adults charged with the same crimes. In fact, "The very language used in juvenile court underscored these differences. Juveniles are not charged with crimes, but rather with delinquencies; they are not found guilty, but rather are adjudicated delinquent; they are not sent to prison, but to training school or reformatory" (McCord et al., 2001, p.154). However, these differences would not always work in favor of a juvenile offender. On the contrary, the leniency of the juvenile court system often came at a high price for young offenders. Judges were charged with acting in the best interests of the child, which meant that the proceedings were not necessarily adversarial. Therefore, the constitutional protections afforded a defendant in the adult criminal justice system were not always respected in the juvenile justice system (McCord et al., 2001, p.154). The lack of meaningful constitutional protections gave judges a substantial amount of power and limited the right of the offenders to seek judicial review of the decisions that they faced in delinquency adjudications.

Advantages of the Juvenile Justice System

Despite the potential lack of constitutional protections, it is important to keep in mind that the juvenile justice system offers several advantages for the offender. Perhaps the most important of those advantages is the fact that the juvenile justice system is non-adversarial; the lack of constitutional protections may be seen as a disadvantage, but it is also an advantage. This is because the juvenile defendants are cast in the role of juveniles in need of assistance, not simply as offenders in need of punishment. As a result, the primary goal of the juvenile system is rehabilitation. The problem with this goal is that rehabilitation is not always possible. It is commonly noted that offenders placed into the juvenile system do not get better, but simply learn how to be better criminals. Unfortunately, in many situations, that is the case. Therefore, what is an advantage for juveniles can be a tremendous disadvantage for the public. This is an important point, because whether or not waiver is an appropriate choice cannot be determined solely by how waiver impacts the juveniles who face the adult criminal justice system, but also by the benefit or detriment to society.

Another advantage of the juvenile justice system for the offender is that the impact of the long-term incarceration of juveniles is something that is not very well understood. The juvenile justice system has sentence limits and offenders age out of the system, regardless of the crime committed. However, the very crimes that result in waiver to the adult system are the same crimes that are likely to carry extremely large potential sentences. This has two impacts: the impact on the juvenile offenders and the legal interactions between the criminal justice system and the offenders. More research is needed to understand both the legal decision-making at the back end of waiver and the way that long-term incarceration impacts juveniles (Singer, 2003, p.126-7). Therefore, the juvenile justice system must be considered better until more evidence is discovered.

In addition to advantages for the offender, the juvenile justice system might also offer advantages for society. Three components are believed to enhance the deterrence ability of a criminal justice sentence: certainty, severity, and swiftness of punishment (Jordan & Myers, 2011, p.248). The empirical evidence suggests that the juvenile court system actually processes criminal cases more rapidly than the adult criminal court system, which gives it an advantage in the area of swiftness (Jordan & Myers, 2011, p. 266). Therefore, the juvenile justice system is better able to accomplish at least one goal of deterrence than the adult criminal justice system. Moreover, the juvenile justice system may not have the same sentence severity as the adult criminal justice system, but offenders in the juvenile system are more likely to serve longer portions of their sentence, so that the severity of the actual punishment may not differ from system to system (Jordan & Myers, 2011, p, 264).

Advantages of the Adult Justice System

The adult justice system has some advantages that cannot be ignored, which is why people seek waiver for juveniles into the adult justice system. Interestingly enough, there are advantages for offenders in addition to advantages for society when a juvenile is tried in the adult justice system. In order to transfer a defendant to the adult justice system, the underlying offense will generally be very serious and, thus, carry the possibility for a lengthy sentence. It is more difficult to obtain a conviction in the adult criminal justice system because of the requirement that the state prove the offense beyond a reasonable doubt, heightened rules of evidence, and even the ability to get a jury trial. Therefore, an offender may actually be better-situated in the adult justice system.

Moreover, society may benefit when certain juveniles are tried in the adult justice system. The reality is that increasing numbers of juvenile offenders are committing serious and violent offenses that make them a danger, not just to the public at large, but also to other juvenile offenders who might be incarcerated in the juvenile justice system. The biggest benefit of the adult justice system is that it provides the potential for longer sentences than the juvenile justice system. Therefore, it has the potential for protecting the public from violent criminals, regardless of age. The fact that criminals may not serve their entire sentences is not a condemnation of the adult justice system's response to juvenile offenders, but actually a condemnation of the overall criminal justice system.

The Waiver Process

In most states, there is an established procedure for transferring cases out of the juvenile justice system and into the regular court system. The most common way to initiate the transfer proceedings… READ MORE