Background

Although the law has changed and juveniles can no longer receive life sentences they can still receive up to 40 years in jail for a crime they committed as young as fourteen or fifteen. Can you imagine your child or sibling being that young making a based choice and having their life taken away from them. By the time they are even eligible for parole they would be in their fifties or sixties.

The Supreme Court case Roper vs. Simmons in 2005 ruled the death penalty cruel and unusaual punishment for miniors. This case involved a seventeen year old who was sentenced to death for murder. The court said juveniles cannot be held to the same standard of accountability as adults. If they can not be held to the same standard as adults why is it they can be convicted as adults? After the Supreme Court case Kent vs. United States in 1996 teens could be triedand punished as adults for serious crimes. This case involved a 16 year old charged with three burlaries, three robberies and two rapes. The justices said when in deciding weather to remove a case from juvenile court, judges must consider the seriousness of the crime the juveniles age and the defendents crminal background as well as thier mental state.

Now for certain crimes like first degree murder children can automatically be transferred nto adult court. As long as the juvenile is 14 years of age or older the juvenile can be both automatically transferreed or directly filed into adult court.
"Juveniles with the highest recidivism (reoffended) rates were those who were incarcerated after being tried in the criminal (adult) court. Overall 49 percent of the transferred offenders reoffened, compared with the 35 percent of the retained offenders."

Every person is unique as well as the reasons for commiting the crime commited, by not looking at the juveniles case by case they are allowing many children to be tried as adults when instead they should be in juvenile court. If cases are not done case by case a computer might as well decide who is and who isn't transferred.

Advocates working to change the way teens are trasnferred include Kathleen Curry, Clair Levy, NCJJ, JJDP, Human Rights Watch, and Youth Zone. Some advantages of changing the law would be juveniles will get a second chance and won't spend the majority of thier lives in jail, and society wouldn't be loosing another life that could potentially become an influential or important person.. The government would benifit because they wont have to pay as much money to keep kids in jail, and they will have more money to spend on other important issues.