CAP Critical Thinking Paper

Amalia Chiapperino Communication Arts Program Green 3/5/2013

Amalia Chiapperino Green

In 1974, The United States Congress passed the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act in an effort to address the importance of separating the juvenile justice system from the adult justice system. Today, however, over 200,000 juvenile offenders a year are being tried as adults and many are being incarcerated as adults. This phenomenon stems from the unfair notion that if juveniles are mentally mature enough to commit an adult crime then theyre mentally mature to be tried and punished as adults. It also creates problems for adolescents as they attempt to prepare themselves for reintegration into society. Due to a lack of emotional and mental maturity, juvenile offenders are less likely to commit premeditated crime. Once tried by a court as adults, juvenile offenders are placed into dangerous prison systems where they are denied an adequate education, leading to a high rate of recidivism. Therefore, the United States Congress must pass a law to cease prosecuting and punishing adolescents as adults. Efforts to provide juvenile offenders with a safe incarceration began to truly take shape in the 1970s with the passage of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act in 1974. ("Child or Adult? A Century"). The Act was meant to ensure that adolescents who were arrested and tried for crimes would have a safer incarceration through requiring that juvenile offenders be separated from adult prisoners at all times when kept at the same jail. The act also prevents adolescents from being kept at the same incarceration centers as adults, exempting rare cases ("Child or Adult? A Century"). These new measures were taken to reduce the possibility of encounters between juvenile and adult offenders, with the hope that this would lower the possibility of an adolescent inmate being sexually abused by an adult inmate, which had become an increasingly prominent issue with the U.S. juvenile justice system by the 1970s (Kaiser and Stannow). The new measures set by this Act were also introduced to improve the quality of life

Amalia Chiapperino Green in prisons for juveniles and to provide opportunities for an adequate education that many juvenile inmates were being denied. While this Act successfully offered protection to juveniles for a while, it is largely ineffective today with juvenile inmates in America. The idea to provide juvenile offenders with fair trials that accommodate to their special circumstances regarding age and development came about in 1899, with the creation of the first juvenile court in Cook County, Illinois, in 1899 ("Child or Adult? A Century"). From that point, countless organizations and committees have been created to offer adolescents trials in juvenile courts, as well as opportunities and support in order to prepare them for reintegration once released from incarceration. Unfortunately, even though these measures were taken, the number of juveniles being tried as adults began to increase again. Between 1992 and 1994 alone, 44 states and the District of Columbia all passed laws facilitating the process of transferring juveniles into the adult court system ("Child or Adult? A Century"). Today the issues with both the process of trying and incarcerating juveniles as adults are very prevalent and contribute to the growing number of repeat arrests and incarcerations among adolescent offenders in America ("Placing Juveniles in the Adult"). An ongoing controversy when it comes to trying adolescents as adults is the fact that they are typically placed in adult prisons as a punishment. One of the greatest issues that come as a result of placing juvenile offenders into adult prisons is that juvenile inmates are at a higher risk of being physically, emotionally, and sexually abused by adult inmates. Over 200,000 juveniles are tried as adults each year and many are sent to adult incarceration facilities (Walton, 155). Inmates as young as 13 years old are confined in the same facilities as adult inmates, and as a result, in a study conducted by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission in 2005, it was found that inmates of adult jails who were under the age of 18 made up 21 percent of all victims

Amalia Chiapperino Green in incidents of inmate-perpetrated sexual violence or abuse nationwide even though juveniles only accounted for 1 percent of all inmates in adult jails at the time (Walton, 155). Human rights activist, T.J. Parsell, author of the book Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man's Prison, was sexually abused himself as a teenager when he was placed in an adult incarceration facility at 17 years old. In an article written for the New York Times, Parsell describes his experience testifying at Capitol Hill in 2003 with Linda Bruntmeyer, a mother who lost her seventeen year old son in 1997. Her son had hanged himself in his cell after being sexually assaulted repeatedly by adult inmates at the adult prison in Texas in which American courts had placed him (Parsell). Looking back on the testimony, Parsell states that What happened to Lindas son and me was far from unpredictable. Congressional findings in the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 posited that juveniles were five times as likely to be sexually assaulted in adult rather than in juvenile facilities often within their first 48 hours of incarceration(Parsell). It is clear that adult prisons are dangerous environments for juvenile offenders, and the mental and emotional trauma that they could suffer as a result of the sexual abuse that they are likely to experience at some point during or throughout their incarceration would make it more difficult to have a successful entrance back into society once they have served their sentence and would likely cause lasting, possibly irreparable emotional damage. Another issue with the adult justice system, suggesting that it is not a safe or conducive environment for juvenile offenders is that, unlike the Juvenile Justice system, the goal of incarceration is more in punishment, rather than the belief that the incarceration is an opportunity for rehabilitation and guidance so that one may be placed back into society in the hopes that he or she will flourish (Bailey, 90). This is especially important for youth because, at the time of their incarceration, they are still developing mentally and emotionally, and they are still in need

Amalia Chiapperino Green of receiving an education that will prepare them to get jobs and build careers for themselves, which reduces the possibility of being incarcerated again (Bailey, 89). Many adult prisons offer no educational services at all, and for youth there, it causes issues because it leaves them without the necessary education to graduate from high school, find a job, or go on to college, all recommended steps in order to successfully live outside of the prison system. In a survey conducted by the Bureau of Justice, it was found that 40 percent of adult jails provided no educational services at all and only 7 percent of adult jails provided vocational training ("Placing Juveniles in the Adult"). While this low amount of educational support in the jail system may not affect adults as much, it is very harmful to the youth, where the point of their incarceration is to correct their misbehavior. It is the belief that juvenile inmates are young enough where their ways can be mended (Bailey, 89). In order for juvenile offenders to advance in todays society and to be able to support themselves financially (which would discourage the need to commit crime in order to support themselves), an adequate education is necessary. By not providing juvenile inmates in adult incarceration centers with the opportunity to complete or obtain, at the very least, a full high school education; jails and prisons are depriving juvenile offenders of a valuable opportunity to improve their lives and shift their priorities away from committing crimes. As a result, they are an unsuitable place for Juvenile offenders to be incarcerated and should not be an option. Besides the incarceration centers themselves, the largest issue with trying juveniles as adults is the simple fact that adolescents are not adults. Supporters of trying juveniles as adults believe in the policy that if a person commits an adult crime, then they must be tried and punished as an adult would be. However supporters dont take into account that an adolescent mind is very different from an adult mind. Author Michael Bailey states that Adolescence

Amalia Chiapperino Green involves character evolution. During this growing period, certain adolescent acts may not remain a part of one's behavioral patterns forever (Bailey, 87). Bailey means that thoughts, behaviors, or emotions, that could have caused an adolescent to commit a premeditated crime, wouldnt necessarily be a part of that individuals permanent personality. It would then be unfair to try a juvenile offender as an adult and subject that individual to much more severe punishment when his or her brain is processing information and making decisions differently than an adult would. Youth tried in an adult court face many severe possible repercussions that their lack of adult and developmental maturity could make difficult to endure such as facing the possibility of a life sentence without parole, receiving limited or nonexistent academic and rehabilitative education and guidance, and obtaining an adult criminal record which would decrease opportunities to find a stable job (Campaign for Youth Justice, 2). The point of the juvenile court system is to take this all into account when determining the punishment for a crime and to focus on the larger goal of diminishing a particular juvenile offenders potential danger to society. The fact that a juvenile is much less likely to commit premeditated crime multiple times due to a lack of mental and emotional development and maturity, indicates that they pose much less of a danger to society overall, so it is unnecessary to confine them in adult incarceration centers and to try them as adults, when their brain development is far behind that of an actual adult. Trying juveniles as adults causes many more problems than good. Also, in multiple statistical tests conducted by organizations such as the Bureau of Justice and the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, it was found that incarcerating juvenile offenders in adult prisons did the opposite of the desired result which was to deter crime (Walton, 156). The statistical evidence shows that there was actually a marked increase in the number of juveniles who were re-incarcerated after being kept in adult prisons as opposed to juveniles kept at juvenile detention

Amalia Chiapperino Green centers or correctional facilities. To fix this problem, and eliminate the possibility of a juvenile offender being tried as an adult, The United States Congress must pass a strict law prohibiting any person under the age of eighteen from being tried as an adult in any local, state or federal court. This law must be stricter than the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention act of 1974, because, while the aims of that act were similar, it contained loopholes that made the act less effective. Juveniles are still being tried as adults today even though that Act was passed, so this new law that congress must pass to solve this issue must be more specific and strict than the previous attempts. Because of decisions made by American judicial systems, there are adolescents as young as 13 and 14 being sentenced to life in prison without being given the chance to mature and develop mentally, emotionally, and behaviorally. Due to a lack of emotional and mental maturity, juvenile offenders are less likely to commit premeditated crime. Once tried by a court as adults, juvenile offenders are placed into dangerous prison systems where they are denied an adequate education which leads to a high rate of recidivism. Therefore, the United States Congress must pass a law to cease trying adolescents as adults, regardless of the severity of the crime. In conclusion, no person under the age of eighteen should be tried as an adult, because legally and developmentally speaking, they arent one. If given over to the adult justice system, adolescents may suffer permanent developmental damage as a result of the dangerous prison situations and lack of adequate education resources. However, if they are given the opportunity to learn their lesson at a juvenile detention center, they will receive education and counseling that will equip them with the ability to build a better life for themselves outside of prison and have a chance at a successful future.

Amalia Chiapperino Green

Works Cited Bailey, Michael. "Why Juveniles Should Not Be Tried as Adults." BYU Prelaw Review. Bringham Young University, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/PrelawReview/article/view/13953/13778>. Campaign for Youth Justice. Trying Youth as Adults. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. "Child or Adult? A Century Long View." Frontline. WGBH educational foundation, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/stats/childadult.html>. Parsell, T.J. "Behind Bars, Teenagers Become Prey." New York Times 5 June 2012: n. pag. Web. 5 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/06/05/when-to-punish-ayoung-offender-and-when-to-rehabilitate/in-prison-teenagers-become-prey>. "Placing Juveniles in the Adult Criminal Justice System Is Counterproductive." Opposing Viewpoints in Context. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/browseIssues>. Walton, Reggie B., comp. National Prison Rape Elimination Commission Report. N.p.: National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, 2009. Print.

Amalia Chiapperino Green Annotated Bibliography Bailey, Michael. "Why Juveniles Should Not Be Tried as Adults." BYU Prelaw Review. Bringham Young University, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/PrelawReview/article/view/13953/13778>. This source, which was written by a pre-law student and published by Bringham Young University, analyzes the correlation between a juvenile offenders developing brain and the reasons for which they committed a crime. The source surmises that juvenile offenders cannot be tried as adults because, since their brains are still in the developmental process, they cannot be considered adults and their characteristics and emotions that could have caused them to commit crimes may not be a part of them, once their brains mature. Campaign for Youth Justice. Trying Youth as Adults. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. This report is a basic facts sheet that supplies useful information about the history of trying juveniles as adults and provides reliable statistics concerning the number of kids placed into juvenile detention centers each year. "Child or Adult? A Century Long View." Frontline. WGBH educational foundation, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/stats/childadult.html>. This article written on the PBS news website is very useful as it provides historical facts and background information on the Juvenile Justice system. It also includes many important acts and amendments made throughout history which have changed the way that the juvenile justice system works and allowed for more juvenile offenders who have committed major crimes to be tried as adults.

Amalia Chiapperino Green Griffin, Patrick, et al. "Trying Juveniles as Adults: An Analysis of State Transfer Laws and Reporting." National Criminal Justice Reference Service. US Department of Justice, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/232434.pdf>. This source is a report that analyzes juvenile offenders in adult prisons. The webpage, which is published by the U.S. Department of justice, provides useful statistics and number calculations from each state and from the country as a whole, which will be very helpful as evidence. "Justice Study Tracks Rape and Sexual Abuse of Juvenile Inmates." Washington Post [Washington D.C.] 2010: n. pag. Print. This article in the Washington Post gives valuable information about sexual abuse of juvenile offenders who are inmates in adult prisons. It doesn't have much in the way of reliable statistics, but i has great personal examples that will help me expand the argument and give me more background knowledge. Kaiser, David, and Lovisa Stannow. "The Crisis of Juvenile Prison Rape: A New Report." The New York Review of Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/jan/07/the-crisis-of-juvenile-prison-rapea-new-report/>. This source gives helpful and specific statistics and facts that will help me develop one of the key arguments that I'll be arguing in my critical thinking paper. This argument is the argument that adult prisons are not suitable for juvenile inmates because there is a risk of sexual abuse, which ends up causing enough mental and psychological damage to increase the possibility of an individual being incarcerated again. Parsell, T.J. "Behind Bars, Teenagers Become Prey." New York Times 5 June 2012: n. pag. Web. 5 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/06/05/when-to-punish-ayoung-offender-and-when-to-rehabilitate/in-prison-teenagers-become-prey>. This source,

Amalia Chiapperino Green which was an article written by a former inmate who'd been sexually abused in prison when he was younger, was incredibly helpful because it gave first hand information that would appeal to a person's emotional side and be very persuasive in my argument about how adult prisons are unsafe for juvenile inmates "Placing Juveniles in the Adult Criminal Justice System Is Counterproductive." Opposing Viewpoints in Context. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/browseIssues>. This source came from a database specializing in opposing viewpoints on controversial issues. The article explains in depth the main reasons as to why juveniles should never be tried as adults. The source also provides a list of other resources that would be useful when arguing either side to the debate of whether or not juveniles should ever be tried as adults. Walton, Reggie B., comp. National Prison Rape Elimination Commission Report. N.p.: National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, 2009. Print. This source which was a book written by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission was really helpful and informative. It went into depth abut statistics and the trauma that adolescents in adult prisons who'd experienced sexual abuse went through.