SEPARATE JUSTICE



SEPARATE JUSTICE

What happens when a kid commits a crime? Did you know there are two separate justice systems, one for kids the other for adults? Adult offenders are tried in criminal court. They serve their sentences in prison. Children and young teens, however, are usually handled by the juvenile system.

The juvenile system is based on the theory of rehabilitations, or helping people change their behavior. For this reason, young offenders are sent to special juvenile detention facilities, not adult prisons. They serve their sentences under close observation. They have access to help from counselors and teachers. They learn to live crime-free. If they do well in the system, young offenders are released by the age of 21. Juvenile court records are kept sealed, so offenders have no criminal history.

In reality, the choice of what to so with young criminals depends on a number of factors. How old is the offender? How serious or violent is the crime? Where was the crime committed? Every state has a different policy.

CHANGING PATTERNS The choice used to be more clear-cit. In the past, offenders under the age of 16 were almost always handled by the juvenile court system. In the late 1980s, however, things began to change. School shootings like the one at Colorado’s Columbine High School in 1999 grabbed media headlines. Crimes by teens seemed to be on the rise. People became doubtful about the juvenile justice system.

Many state changed their laws. It became easier for people under 16 to be tried and punished as adults. In some states, kids as young as 10 could find themselves in the adult criminal system—not only on murder charges, but also for charges of drug use or property crimes, like car theft.

Since 1985, the number of kids tried as adult has not stayed constant. These changes reflect the ongoing argument about separate justice for juveniles and adults. Depending on which side is supported by public opinion, the number of young people tried as adults goes up or down.

JUSTICE FOR JUVENILES Many people support a separate justice system for young people. They say that kids can turn their lives around if they get help. Put teens in the adult system, they argue, and you take away that chance. Prison can become a school for learning violence and crime where the only teachers are adult inmates. “If you really want to create a monster,” one expert warns, “see what happens to a child who is locked up in prison for years.”

Those who support a juvenile justice system observe that sending kids to adult prisons does not scare them out of lives of crime. The opposite is true, they say. Research shows that young offenders who spend time in prison are more likely than other juvenile criminals to commit other crimes in the future and be sent back to prison.

JUSTICE FOR ADULTS On the other side of the debate are many people who doubt the benefits of separate justice systems based on age. They contradict the argument that kids deserve special treatment from the law. Those who disagree with the juvenile justice system argue that kids who commit adult crimes should pay adult consequences. Society should not have to pay to rehabilitate a juvenile offender, they argue. Juvenile detention programs and the services they offer represent a much higher cost to citizens than adult prisons do.

Another strong argument comes from crime victims. Many fear that violent kids cannot be rehabilitated. They worry about releasing violent young offenders at the age of 21. A relative of a victim put it this way: “When it’s a vicious, brutal crime, I don’t want those guys living next to anybody’s family again.” Criminal should be punished, regardless of their age.

JUSTICE FOR ALL These contradictory arguments have the same goal at heart: justice for everyone concerned. However, balancing justice for young offenders with justice for the victims of their crimes is not an easy task. The question remains, what is the best way to make the punishment fit the crime?

WRAP IT UP

Find It on the Page

1. What are three things that go into the decision to send a young person to juvenile or criminal court?

2. List two ways in which the juvenile justice system and the adult criminal system differ.

3. What type of events caused state to begin making it easier to try kids as adults?

Use Clues

4. Why might juvenile detention centers cost more to operate than adult prisons?

5. Why do you think kids who spend time in prison are more likely to commit other crimes than kids who go through the juvenile system?

6. Should every state have the same policy about treating young offenders? Why or why not?

Connect to the Big Question

After reading the article, do you think having separate systems of justice based on age is a good idea? Explain your answer. (BE SPECIFIC.)

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