Juliana Rupert

2-7-17

ERWC

Period 4

Juvenile Justice System

The juvenile justice system is a way to keep young children who are just

experiencing life away from hardened criminals with more darker intentions. That is, how some

people see it. Throughout America, teens who have committed murder are suddenly no longer

children, but are not instead adults who know what they have done and deserve life in prison

without a chance of parole. Through the eyes of some people, teens who are just entering high

school should be placed in the adult system because they have purposely or accidentally killed

someone. Currently, our juvenile justice system is not being treated as a requirement, instead it is

an option going against the adult justice system. We can change this by proposing a law that a

young adult under 18 can never be tried as an adult under no circumstances.

The major issue in the juvenile justice system is when young adults are automatically

tried as adults without the consideration of trying them in the juvenile system. There have been a

few cases such as Greg Ousley who had been immediately put into the adult system without a

second glance. In the article "Greg Ousley Is Sorry Enough for Killing His Parents. Is That

Enough?" by Scott Anderson, one line that sticks out quickly is 'Despite Greg's age, his case

swiftly waived into the adult justice system.' During the court session, it was also apparent that

his appointed lawyer never called for a preliminary psychiatric examination or call out the
prosecutor for sending Greg straight into the adult system. In both situations, this would of

delayed the process of putting Greg in a jail.

Another major problem in the juvenile court system is the stereotype teens are labeled as.

As Marjie Lundstrom puts it, And the bigger the crime, the more eager we are to call them

adults. According to this, young adults are just kids until we mess up and commit a crime. On

the other hand, there are the young adults who plan a murder and go through with it, such as

Greg Ousley and a teenager who killed Jennifer Jenkins sister. In her article, she argues that

young adults who commit murder deserve life in prison without a chance of parole. That the

propaganda of saying these young adults are kids is false. For the record, the nation is NOT

sentencing children to die in prison. This can be looked at in different ways. One, a young adult

is being sentenced to die in prison, but they will be dying of old age and not the death sentence.

One problem why young adults are tried as adults is their reaction and reasonings on

what they did. Most murders that young adults commit are either on accident or trying to copy

what they had learned. In the case of Lionel Tate, he supposedly was imitating his World

Wrestling Federation heroes when he pummeled his playmate. (Lundstrom, para 11) With

another case, a teen wanted to see what it would feel like to shoot someone. (Jenkins, para 2)

While these are two different cases, both have something in common. They acted on impulse and

wanted to see an end result without considering the consequences. This is related to the fact that

the brain during this time has an underdeveloped section that controls our impulses. In short,

young adults dont consider the end results of an action until it is too late.

Finally, a problem that is not always considered in the juvenile system, is the

environment the child has grown up in. To counter argue the brain development, Jenkins says
that If brain development were the reason, then teens would kill at roughly the same rates all

over the world. If this were the case, then wed see a lot more violence than just crimes. It all

comes down to how a teen was raised and what they were exposed to. In one case, a teen came

from privilege. Whenever he got in trouble, his parents fixed it.(Jenkins, para 7) The teen in this

case had felt as though he was invincible. Another case in Greg Ousley, who grew up hating his

parents because one ignored him and the other was always breathing down his neck. He went

from isolation to the center stage when his sisters left; the sudden change hitting him harshly.

Two different lifestyles, but both thought they had it all planned out and could get away with it.

One had no reason besides that he felt like it, while the other felt extreme guilt and had no real

reason as to why he went through with it.

A solution to the many problems the juvenile justice system has is to propose a law to

never put a young adult under 18 into the adult system, that they must always be tried as an

juvenile and that their sentence can change when the reach the legal adult age. This can solve the

problem of lifetime sentences to young adults as well, since a law was passed that juveniles tried

as juveniles cannot receive life sentences. On June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that

juveniles who committed murder could not be sentenced to life in prison. (Example in prompt)

With this, it gives the young adult a chance to redeem himself and to learn from his mistakes.

Some argue that this wont teach them a harsh enough lesson if not sentenced to life, but they

would never been given a chance to prove themselves.

Another solution is to have a mandatory preliminary psychiatric examination in a juvenile

court system. This is an option considering it can show a court that the young adult has no

control over their impulses. These frontal lobes, which inhibit our violent passions, rach actions,
and regulates our emotions, are vastly immature throughout the teenage years. (Thompson, para

7) This quote can tell the court that the young adult had no impulse control over the idea of a

murder. As well as in the case of Greg Ousley, he was having second thoughts of killing his

parents. But weighted against this was a concern so perverse that only an adolescent mind might

come up with it: already having the reputation among his friends as a liar, he was sure that if he

didnt do this now, no one would ever believe him again. (Anderson, pg 14) This could give

young adults a chance of a lower sentence as well as the help they need to become a law abiding

citizen.

The last solution is to give the young adult another court case a few months after they

turn 18, to see if they have gotten enough help or can be released at an earlier date. With this

given chance, teens as young as 13 who were put into the juvenile system have a chance of an

earlier release or could receive more help during their sentence in an adult system. An example is

back with the Greg Ousley case, when the journalist interviewed a superintendent of Gregs. He

said that Theres absolutely nothing to be gained by keeping him in there for another 10 years.

While Gregs crime was horrendous, his time spent in the system was enough and he had nothing

else to learn, considering that he received little help and wrote a novel on why he committed the

crime.

The juvenile justice system is corrupted, it is seen as an option rather than a mandatory

sentence for a young adult. In the cases found in the articles discussed in class, nothing was

gained with keeping teens in prison with life sentences as well as immediately sending them into

the adult system. It has only proven to be more harmful to the teen than helping them learn a

lesson for their crime. This is why the juvenile justice system needs to be mandatory, not an
option. Along with preliminary psychiatric examinations and a chance of a new sentence once

passed the age of 18. This can give the young adults a chance of getting help and to understand

what they had done. The brain, as well as their homelife and exposure to harm play a factor in

why the young adult committed a crime.

 Sources:

Anderson, Scott. "Greg Ousley Is Sorry for Killing His Parents. Is That Enough?" New

York Times 19 July 2012

Lundstrom, Marjie. Kids Are Kids - Until They Commit Crimes Sacramento Bee 1

March 2001

Thompson, Paul. Startling Finds on Teenage Brains Sacramento Bee 25 March 2001

Jenkins, Jennifer. On Punishment and Teen Killers Juvenile Justice Information

Exchange 2 August 2011

Garringer, Gail. Juveniles Dont Deserve Life Sentences New York Times 14 March

2012