The document argues that juveniles who commit severe crimes should be tried as adults. It discusses the history of juvenile courts and how cases can be transferred to adult court through statutory, judicial, or prosecutorial waiver. While juvenile courts aim to rehabilitate youth, the author believes some juveniles are incapable of rehabilitation and will reoffend if released. Therefore, juveniles who commit crimes like murder or rape should face the same consequences as adults, including the possibility of life imprisonment or capital punishment, regardless of their age.

1. Shanna Nelson
May 24th, 2015
Writing Sample
Juveniles Should be Held Accountable for Severe Crimes in Adult Court
Juveniles have not always had the possibility of being tried as adults, but in recent years
this has become increasingly prominent for juveniles who's minds, some argue, may not be fully
developed, but they should be held accountable for their actions if it is a severe enough crime
with victims involved. There are currently 3 ways a case is differed to adult court and it is
becoming increasingly prominent with about 1% of juvenile cases being differed in 1971 and
6.4% in 1999. Trying severe, high profile cases in juvenile court can be a bad thing for the court
system because many times they will be released when they turn 18 or 21. Would you want a
murderer or a rapist released back on the streets?
Juvenile court actually doesn't have a very long history compared to the normal court
system, and up until the 1800’s it wasn't any different for children or adults (Kress).
Massachusetts was the first state to establish a juvenile court, in which the Supreme Court was
very involved with the creation of. It was very influenced by the Common Law of England in the
1760’s, which governed the Colonial people. William Blackstone was a prominent character in
this due to his theories of defining adulthood and infancy. He stated that infancy was ages 0-6
and adulthood was ages 14+ (Sentencing Juveniles to Life without Parole), but he did not
account for anyone in between. He states that he thinks the only people that shouldn't be tried as
adults are infants, so does that mean that he believes anyone 7 and over should be held fully
accountable?
There were a lot of questions posed when developing a juvenile court procedure, and one
of the major topics was Due Process. “Due process of law means that every person who is party
to a legal proceeding is entitled to certain safeguards designed to ensure that the proceeding is
fair and impartial’ (American Bar). This is protected under the 5-8 Amendments. The 5th states
that you have rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and cannot b forcer to testify
against yourself, the 6th gives you the right to a speedy trial and says you cannot be indicted
without valid evidence by a grand jury, the 7th gives you the right to a jury trial, and the 8th
protects against excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment. These constitutional rights
built the foundation for juvenile court to give children the correct representation they deserve,
but has that right been taken too far and abused?
There are 3 ways a case will get waived to adult court: statutory, judicial, and
prosecutorial (Gerstenfeld). Statutory waivers are specific crimes that are not seen in juvenile
court, such as first degree murder. If these are committed by a juvenile then they automatically
are waived to adult court with no cause for discussion as to waive it or not. A judicial waiver is
when the judge deems it inappropriate for juvenile court, at his or her discretion. A prosecutorial
waiver is a referral to adult court from the prosecutor in the case, but these are generally done
with only 16 and 17 year olds. As you can see, there are times when a serious crime will be
committed but wont receive a referral to adult court. In 2011 a 12 year old girl was charged with
armed robbery of using a handgun to try to rob a store in Detroit (Fox News), but due to her age

2. and the charge not being statutory, she was tried in juvenile. In another case, Nathaniel Abraham,
age 11 at the time, was charged with second degree murder (again, not statutory) in juvenile
court and put into a juvenile detention center until he was released at age 21 (Randall). Less than
a year after being released he was back in prison with drug dealing charges. The main concept of
juvenile court is rehabilitation, but there are many cases when that is not the outcome. Abraham
was not rehabilitated even after years of life in custody at a juvenile detention center despite
being given another chance to be a positive member of society even after he murdered someone.
Rehabilitation is just not possible in many situations, and many civilians would agree that they
do not want a murderer, armed robber, or rapist released back on the streets solely because they
were a kid at the time. Currently, the US does not provide capital punishment to any person
under the age of 16. Unfortunately, most people under that age that commit a crime worthy of
capital punishment will just be sent to juvenile detention centers and possibly released at age 18
or 21.
Some people would argue that minors do not have the proper brain development to
understand their crime to the full extent and therefore should not be tried as adult and given
serious consequences (Sentencing Juveniles to Life Without Parole). According to Erik Erikson,
the most prominent developmental psychologist of our time, There are stages of personality that
relate to brain development (McLeod), but adolescents should be able to make valid decisions
for themselves. Me being an adolescent myself, I would expect myself to be able to realize that
murder is bad. Erikson was a psychoanalysis with a focus on the ego, which describes decision
making and almost lays out moral values that people should have.
In todays society, juveniles are not tried as adults as much as they should be and are, in
most cases, a possible danger to society. They are capable of making moral decisions, especially
ones that could be possibly detrimental to another person’s life, and they should be held
accountable for it. One or two years should not be the difference between being sentenced to
capital punishment or being released when you are 21. Juvenile court should be considered as
much about rehabilitation as adult court when it comes to felonies, because there are crimes that
are not able to be rehabilitated from. This is a safety and security issue for our civilians and
these juveniles should be held accountable for their actions just like everyone else is.

3. Works Cited
B. Gerstenfeld, Phyllis. “Juvenile Waivers to Adult Courts.” Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Salem Press Inc., 1 Jan 2008. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.
"Girl, 12, Charged as Juvenile in Armed Robbery Attempt." Fox News. Associated Press, 18
Apr. 2011. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.
Kress, Jack M. “Juvenile Court”. Work Book. World Book, Inc., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2015.
McLeod, Saul. "Erik Erikson." Simply Psychology. 1 Jan. 2008. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.
Randall, Kate. "Michigan Judge Sentences 13-year-old Nathaniel Abraham to Juvenile Facility."
World Socialist Web Site. International Committee of the Fourth International, 14 Jan.
2000. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.
“Sentencing Juveniles to Life Without Parole.” Issues and Controversies. Infobase Learning 21
Aug. 2009. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.