Avila 1 Cassandra Avila Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 22 January 2014 Topic Proposal: 16 for Life Introduction/Overview

My research o this pro!ect "ill ocus on "hether or not children under the age o 1# should be tried and convicted as adults$ %he act that &ids have committed crimes over the past years and have been tried and convicted as adults surprises me because a ter all they are &ids going into a "orld o tough criminals$ I "ould thin& that some o these &ids "ould have a lesser punishment but some have gotten li e "ithout parole$ 'hile some o these cases might go to the e(treme) there are several states that have passed la"s that allo" courts to try !uveniles as adults$ Each case is di erent but the act that !uveniles are committing the crimes ma&es me "onder i they have the capability to understand their case$ In other "ords) these !uveniles are not mature enough to go through an adult court case$ I understand some o these &ids have committed horrible crimes and should be punished) but a thirteen*year old child does not have the same maturity as a seventeen*year*old teen$ %he biggest concern o trying a !uvenile as an adult is the act that they do not have the same capability to understand the legal procedures that an adult has$ I also believe that many o these &ids commit crimes because o their particular bac&ground$ In many documentaries that I have seen about &ids "ho have been tried as an adult and have ended up getting a li e sentence "ithout parole tend to have harsh bac&grounds$ I thin& that sometimes their actions could be a

Avila 2 result o their bac&ground$ %hese troubled &ids have committed crimes) but their troubled bac&grounds are disregarded by their crimes$ As I stated earlier) I "atch documentaries and I have learned some things rom them$ I also read a couple o articles debating the idea o trying a !uvenile) as an adult is something that should remain in the +nited ,tates or should be removed$ %he readings I did or this topic come rom the Internet) mainly ne"s articles rom C-- and A.C$ I "atched a video on /ou%ube that "as rom the 0% -et"or& that ocused on &ids in the +nited ,tates being imprisoned in adult prisons$ I "atched ho" a spo&esperson rom the 1epartment o /outh 0ehabilitation ,ervices spo&e against trying and convicting &ids as adults$ %here are articles) especially rom %he E(aminer) that go against the idea "hile others are in avor it) ta&ing the idea o 2old enough to do the crime) old enough to do the time$3 %here are la"yers and medical pro essionals that have argued that &ids do not have the capability to understand or the maturity to go through an adult court$ %his argument turns around "hen people avor it) especially amily members o the victim$ %hey o ten believe that the &ids &no" "hat they are doing and should be punished) particularly i it is a murder case$ Initial Inquiry Question(s) %o "hat e(tent is trying and convicting !uveniles as adults air4 ,hould their bac&grounds be e(amined closer i they come rom a harsh bac&ground4 At "hat age is it more reasonable to try !uveniles as adults4 'hy should !uveniles ace punishment that "ill not allo" them to sho" that they have changed) such as li e "ithout parole4 y Interest in t!is Topic

Avila 5 I am interested in this topic because I cannot believe ho" young some &ids have to go prison or serious crimes$ I have al"ays been interested in court cases and "hen I read or "atch things about &ids committing crimes and going to prison or them ma&es it interesting$ 'hile I do not have a personal connection to this topic) I !ust ind it hard to believe that a &id is robbed rom their childhood at an early age$ I thin& about ho" &ids are happy and live their lives normally "hile others are loc&ed up in a cell "orrying about other inmates hurting them and "atch their lives "aste a"ay in a cell$ I sometimes "atch my brother play "ith his toys and I thin& about those &ids) "ho tend to have a tragic childhood) end up loc&ed in a cell or a crime$ %hose &ids are seen as criminals) and "hile they may be according to the la") they may never get the chance to be surrounded by loving people$ I &no" or a act that most &ids that commit some horrible crime) such as murder) tend to have a rough) tragic childhood$ 'hen I read about these &ids I eel sympathy or them because they had troubled pasts$ I eel that their actions are results rom their past or things they might have learned rom their past$ I hope to learn "hy la"s have been passed in order to punish young &ids harsher$ I "ant to learn "hy many states support the idea o 2old enough to do the crime) old enough to do the time)3 because they are &ids in the end$ "e#t $teps In order to get ans"ers or my 6uestions) I do plan on "atching more documentaries about some o these &ids$ I "ill use the Internet to ind more in ormation o some cases in past years o &ids that have been tried as adults$ I "ill loo& or statistics and other types o in ormation on the .ureau o Justice ,tatistics because they have several acts on !uveniles tried

Avila 4 as adults$ I "ill de initely use the library as a source or this pro!ect because I could ind some articles that could ans"er my 6uestions$