Should juvenile offenders, under 16, who commit serious crimes(rape, murder) be tried, convicted as adults? y?

Answer 1

Yes they should. Everyone says that they're just kids, and legally they are but kids now days act a lot older than they really are. and teenagers, though going through major growth and dealing with hormones, can think for themselves and should know right from wrong.

Answer 2

In Indiana, a juvenile is a person under the age of 18, and offenses committed by those persons are heard in juvenile court. When the allegation is made against the juvenile, the juvenile is referred to the probation office where we talk to the juvenile and parent(s) and then we make a recommendation to the prosecutor as to whether or not the case should go to juvenile court, if it should be handled within our office on an informal adjustment, or if the case should be dismissed.

There are certain offenses which are automatically waivered to adult court if committed by a person under 18. One of those offenses is murder.

For other offenses, as a probation officer, if I think the offense is serious enough, I can request that the prosecutor waive the juvenile to adult court. I've done that on cases involving a large amount of drugs when the juvenile is 17 and nearing their 18th birthday.

Answer 3

They need to carefully be evaluated. And the parents have to stop 'babying' them. If a minor, under 16, is found to be knowledgable, can care full conversations with adults or older teens, carries out his home and school responisbilities, he probably very knowingly knew what he was planning and doing. So he should be held accountable for it at an adult. But of course not put in adult prison. Juvenile prison with lots, lots of counseling and mentoring. So when he gets out at 18 or 21, he will be a better person. If he has to be moved to adult prison, the counseling and mentoring should continue for his future release. Our children nowadays are being forced to grow up fast, children of single parents helping raise their siblings, young boys of a single mother given responsibilities as a husband might have (cleaning, shopping, working for income, etc.), sex and drugs are pushed on children and that messes them up and causes them to commit crimes. We need to protet children and let them BE children. Heck, at 18 you are legally an adult, yet they are still TEENS for 2 more years.

If minors that commit severe crime were charged as adults and punished accordingly, that would show other minors that their actions are taken seriously. Then maybe less children would do these things. All in all, education starts at birth in the home. If the home isn't healthy, then the kids have to be removed and cared for elsewhere. Kids needs good, moral, kind, trustworthy mentors through their entire childhood.

Answer 4

no no no no no no no no no . But they are tried as adults.
When a 15 year old girl has a boyfriend who is 18 and they have sex the parents can have the boy arrested for statatory rape because she is a minor , a child and had the sex willingly but the parents will say she is only a child and not capable of making decisions for herself. SO if this is the case why then should they be tried as an adult if they commit a crime. . Any child under 16 is still in thier parents care and is the responsiblity of the parents. A parent should notice if thier child is capable of commiting murder or if they are so sexually aroused that there is the possiblity of them raping someone. Boys under the age of 16 normally are not going to go out and rape someone. And if thier parents are involved in thier lives they shouldnt have the anger in them or want to murder someone. If the child does have that type of anger the parents should know and should be getting that child some help. For a child under 16 to commit a serious crime I repeat means that the parents are not doing thier job and should be help accountable for thier lack of attention with that child.
A 14 year old can not have a drivers license because they are to young to drive and are not responsible enough to be given one because they are still a child. 14 or 15 year olds are not allowed to work at certain jobs because they can not be insured because they are still to young.
If one of my sons would of commited a serious crime growing up it would of been just as much my fault as it was thiers. Its like if I allowed my 14 year old to drive my car and he were to hit someone it would be just as much my fault as it was his. I allowed him to drive the car knowing that the law says no because he is still to young.
If you give your child a loaded gun to play with and he shoots someone whos fault is it.? The parent who gave the child the gun. As adults we know what is right and what is wrong we know what the results can be doing certain things. A child has not yet had that much time to really know what the outcome could be of certain actions. I remember growing up and wanting my mom to buy me things and when she wouldnt I would get upset and think that she was just being mean . I guess I figured money just grew on trees or something . I didnt realize that there are bills to be paid and ones paycheck doesnt always cover everything. Because I was a child. I had my first son right before my 15 birthday. whos fault was it ? Mine just as much hers. I am 45 today and my sons are 30 and 28 . As my boys grew up I made sure I always was involved in thier lives and that they could always come to me with what ever it was they were having a problem with. I made sure that they could talk to me about everything and anything under the sun there was. I also made sure that they didnt hang around with older kids. So no a child shouldnt be tried as an adult and the adults that are responsible for that child should be held responsilbe for that childs actions just as much as the child.

Answer 5

Absolutely not.

Unless the government extends all of the privileges of adulthood to juveniles, they should not be held to same level of responsibility as adults. It is unjust for the government to say:

"You're too young to sign a contract, or get married, or vote, or purchase an alcoholic beverage, or enjoy any of the rights of an adult.....but you ARE old enough to pay taxes and to be judged as an adult."

It is often said that "with rights come responsibilities." If that is true, than the reverse is true as well- "with responsibilities come rights." The government can not rightly treat a person as an incompetent child for some things, and as a responsible adult for others. That is inconsistent, discriminatory, and unfair.

Answer 6

Yes, they should be held accountable for what they have done.
They have taken someones innocence away, plus they have hurt
and killed them. No person should go through this experience.
They should get 25 to life or the death penalty. Same as an Adult.
If they act like an adult then, they will will be treated like an adult
with NO BUTS.

Answer 7

Yes -
Currently, the court contends that children under the age of 18 are not capable of understanding the ramifications of their actions, i.e. - they don't really know what they're doing and cannot fathom the consequences. This is BS -
Children as young as 13-14 understand the consequences and should be held acocuntable for their actions

Answer 8

Yes, they should. If they are old enough to commit such a horrible thing, they should be able to take full responsibility for that. The victim will still be a victim no matter how old was the convict

Answer 9

It seems a bit unjust that they're not adults when they're good but when they're bad, they're thinking like adults? We have proof brains aren't even developed yet. We need to fix the juvenile system. Here's an interesting article that points out it hasn't worked out the way they thought it would.

http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20010318jintro0318areg2.asp

Answer 10

Yes, they are doing grown up things. Making choices that an adult would make. Some kids grow up way too fast.

Do the crime ....be prepared to do the time!