Should Minors Ever be Tried as Adults?

Answer 1

No ........... You can't expect a person to pay all their life for something a child did. !!!!! No child could be wicked or evil enough in my opinion !!!!! Get them help and then if they can't function in the real world keep them in a ward somewhere but never Try them as adults !!!!!!! Yes G>W> I see your point but look at you! You are the best example as to why I say no !!! You didn't turn out so bad now did you !!!!
And Felines. I know the family you are talking about. The mother lived because she was wearing a wig. I just can't imagine a child feeling abandoned by all the adult protectors he has always known to being one over night for something they did that went to far got way to out of hand !!! You just don't know why or what happened !!!! I mean there are all these ""Adults"" out there driving drunk and killing innocent people or just wrecking all the time. They slap them on the wrist and send them on their way straight back to a bar or bottle anyhow !!!! And they do it again and again !!! I'm sorry !! I am a champion of children and will always be !!!!! Do we give up on them and say you're a bad seed, you're out of here like you poopied on the carpet, your going to the Pound? Wirewick!!!!!!!!! Good Question !!!

Answer 2

No they should not be tried as adults at all. They need some serious help. What if that child that commented the crime had a mental problem? Try them as an adult you say, hang them high you say. Now stop and think about this one, what would YOU do IF that child was YOUR child that commented that crime? Would you still want them tried as an adult or hang them high. When you are all saying to treat them as an adult....think how you would feel if this was your own child that you was telling the law what to do with that person and how to handle it. I don't care how bad the crime was that was commented.....think of that child as your son or daughter that broke the law. Don't blame the parent/parents of that child that comment the crime either. They might have raised that child very well and then some thing went wrong some where that caused that child to malfunction. It all depends on what side of the fence that you are on as to how you feel about the victim and the criminal. Just keep in mind that IF the child that commented the crime (no matter how bad that crime was),was your child, could you still say to try that child as an adult. And also knowing all the while that that child (your child) might spend the rest of their life in prison or worse yet, be put to death. Now do YOU want your minor child be tried as an adult?

No I am not saying to turn them loose on the streets either. They just need help. Put them in a center that can help them. Remember this is YOUR child that commented the crime that I am talking about, not the victim. Yes the victim needs help to, to get over what has happened.

Answer 3

Depends on a lot of things. The seriousness of the crime, physiological evaluation and how close the ''criminal'' is to what is considered an adult.
I have a problem with this anyway. I have raised two sons. They are responsible and decent men. But at 18 most if not all people are emotionally still very young. Even at 21. The government declares that an 18 yr old can go to war and die for his or her country but cannot drink alcohol until they are 21. Of course this is an old argument.

I guess that seriousness of the crime and psychological evaluation would be the determining factors.

Answer 4

I used to work as a youth counselor and with "deliquent minors" and I cannot count the number of times I heard one of them "I am going to be 17 next year so I wont "get away" with this s*** anymore". Or "is he stupid or what? He was 17 last week" and of course "they cant do anything to me I'm not 17 yet".

They know they are commiting a crime and they know they wont be locked up or receive any serious punishment until they are 17, in Canada -

I say "adult crime adult time".

A 5 year old knows its wrong to hurt or kill someone or steal someone else's property - the young offenders act is complete crap and its time these little criminals faced the full wrath of the law and the citizens they hurt.

I know of kids who have been arrested and charged with serious crimes, including murder and assault causing serious injury 10 times, 20 times before they hit 17 - I say bring back the death penaly and stop them from hurting anyone else.

And as a counselor I can say without hesitation, this behavior is NOT learned at home. Most of these kids come from very decent families, they learn this on the streets and from the friends they choose because they think they should "have to" go to school or work or follow their parents rules - they have a sense of entitlement, and they do it because they can get away with it. IF we started locking these youths up I can guantee you there would be a dramatic drop in youth crime.

If you had kids and they turned out to be perfect then you were just lucky, it has very little to do with parenting skills.

If you think its because of abuse then explain how and why so many abused children turn out to be law abiding hard working responsible citizens?

Answer 5

I believe there are definitely circumstances where a 'child' should be tried as an adult. Some crimes committed by them are horrendous, vile, wholly cruel and premeditated. Research into these particular childrens' backgrounds usually reflect a pattern of violence and a lack of social conscience. Yes, I believe there are bad seeds...I also believe there are children raised in certain circumstances where they actually lack compassion and value for life and are way beyond redemption.

Yes, there are exceptions....but to have a so-called child murder in a heinous manner and then spend 5-6 yrs in juvenile detention, only to come out and perfect their past deeds is not acceptable to me.

Perhaps the better route for some would be long terms detention in a criminal psychiatric facility...yet, that often results in manipulation and the shrinks then say they are fine and release them to do it again.

I agree with Goldwing [with the exception of the concept of a bad seed] children learn at home first. Raise a child with modeling of compassionate behavior; value for life; and rules of behavior and settling resentments; anger and emotional pain and you will usually have a responsible caring adult.

Answer 6

In certain cases, absolutely. Some kids are just plain bad through and through, and when they commit a capital crime, the punishment should fit.

Many years ago, this came up when some teens broke into a home and took a baseball bat to an entire family. That was back in the 1960s, and I don't know the final outcome, because I moved out of state before it was resolved.

I would be willing to bet, though, that the bleeding hearts came to the rescue and they're languishing in cells instead of graves.

Answer 7

Of course, they know what they are doing. Murder and Rape are no more different for the victim, than if an adult does it or a teenager. If you let them go they will just grow up to do it again as adults. Gangs induct these young kids to carry their weapons and kill, so that the older adult gang members will not get caught. So kids are just bad to the bone and deserve to spend their lives in prison, or dir, rather than get out and do it all over again.

Answer 8

Yes, minors who commit adult crimes should be tried as adults. The victim of a 12-year old murderer is no less dead than the victim of a 40-year old murderer.

Answer 9

Only those who are truly evil. And only those whose crimes were so heinous. We had a young man (14 yrs.) in our area - he took his g/f out and raped her repeatedly. Then he killed her - stripped her naked and tied her to a tree and stoned her beyond recognition. Then realizing that he was in trouble - he cut her down - put her in her mothers car and set it on fire! He is now serving life + 50 years in a fed. pen. in a "youth group" until he's 18 and then he'll be put into the general population. The judge asked him if he was remorseful and the kid just said "Nah - the Bi--h deserved it!"
I hope he never gets out! CJ

Answer 10

UNDER THE NEW LAWS, MINORS ARE TRIED AS AN ADULT (SERIOUS FELONY OFFENSES) BUT CANNOT BE GIVEN THE DEATH PENALTY, ONLY LIFE WITH OUT PAROLE?

MOST OF THESE KIDS KNOW THE LAW AND THAT AS A JUV THEY CAN DO ALMOST ANYTHING AND WILL HAVE THEIR RECORDS SEALED BY THE COURTS WHEN 18. THE NEW LAW READS THAT THEY CAN HAVE THEIR CASES AND JUV FILE REVIEWED AS AN ADULT AND EVEN AS A JUVENILE OFFENDER.