Running head: JUVENILES NEED JUSTICE

Juveniles Need Justice

By: Rees Robertson
University of California Merced

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Running head: JUVENILES NEED JUSTICE

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Abstract:
The purpose of this research paper, Juveniles Need Justice, is to address an issue that the
United States is facing at this very moment. The issue at hand is the ability for juveniles to be
tried and convicted as adults, which is not enforced anywhere else in the world. The solution that
is proposed in this research paper is the elimination of laws that enable teens to be transferred to
an adult setting such as: judicial waivers and direct files. Without these laws, teens can stay in
the juvenile justice system where they belong. By identifying a solution that is both good for
public safety and also juvenile health, the idea that juveniles are different than adults can be fully
acted upon. I use an informative tone with my public audience to ensure that they understand that
there is an issue and changes need to be made immediately. The implementation of research and
opinions from credible sources into this research paper assisted in solidifying the stand point on
the issue/solution.
Background:
The Juvenile Justice System was established over a century ago. This was on the basis
that juveniles need an alternative judicial system which held them accountable for their actions
while still deflecting them from further crimes in the future. The first juvenile court was put into
effect in the early 1900s in Chicago to keep juveniles out of the adult criminal justice system,
and performed a therapeutic method/service for juveniles. In the early 1990s, the myth of a
Super-predator was proposed by a Princeton University professor named John Dillulio. The
myth of a Super-predator was a term used to explain a sharp rise in juvenile crime
(http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/27206_1.pdf), and exclaimed that most of the nations
crimes would be due to these juvenile Super-predators. This idea scared state legislatures into
reverting back to before the juvenile justice system, where youth would receive the same

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treatment as adults. This also gained the support of the public opinion through scare-tactics, and
soon led to changes in state law making it easier to transfer teens to the adult justice system. A
few years after the original prediction of a Super-predator, the initial researcher, John Dillulio,
who proposed this theory admitted that his prediction never actually occurred.
In 2000, in response to a now discredited myth that youth violence was on the rise,
California voters passed Proposition 21, also known as the Gang P1 Treat Kids as Kids Why
Youth Should be Kept in the Juvenile Justice System and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act
(Castro 1). Proposition 21 made it so children as young as 14 years of age could be tried and
convicted in the adult justice system. This proposition also allows for the prosecutor to choose
whether a child should be tried as an adult, instead of the judge deciding. According the
Campaign for Youth Justice, the number of adolescents that were transferred to the adult criminal
justice system nearly doubled in California after this proposition was passed. It is astounding that
state legislatures altered the original juvenile laws out of fear of a phony prediction. An estimate
of 250,000 youth under the age of 18 are prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system every
year (Campaign for Youth Justice 3). Basically what the author is saying in this quote is that the
number of teens tried as adults is a staggering number compared to its historical average. In Treat
Kids as Kids, Estavalez Castro points out that, In California alone, an estimated 6,500
individuals are incarcerated in an adult prison for a crime they committed under the age of
eighteen. And roughly 1,000 children are subject to the adult criminal justice system in
California every year. The author is trying to bring awareness to the severity of this issue.
It seems that there are many disadvantages to trying adolescence in the adult court of law,
with no evidence that this system actually benefits public safety or lowers future crime rates in
underage offenders. This legislation was put into effect in order to try children that have

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committed very serious crime such as murder, rape, burglary, or other severe acts. Yet most of
the children that have been tried in an adult court system did not commit crime of this caliber,
and over half of the children that were prosecuted had been first-offenders (Gonzales 2). This
means that a system was formed in order to fix an issue of serious crimes in juveniles, and did
not even address the issue after it was put into effect. Secondly, juveniles do not possess the same
thinking ability as adults. Neuroscience shows that dramatic changes in development of the
brain occurs in the teenage years of development. According to Paul Thompson from the
University of California Los Angeles, During teenage years, gray matter which supports all
thinking and emotions is purged at a rate of 1 to 2 percent a year (Thompson 1). When in a
complex situation, teens are more likely to make an impulsive decision without realizing the long
term effects of their actions. The region of the brain that is the last to develop is the one that
controls many of the abilities that govern goal-oriented, rational decision-making, such as
long-term planning, impulse control, insight, and judgment (Campaign for Youth Justice).
Furthermore, when teens are subjected to the adult court and are charged, they have to spend
their time in an adult jail/prison. This has many negative consequences on those children
confined in an adult prison, whether they are withheld in a solitary cell or a cell with adult
inmates. When withheld in a solitary cell, teens can face many mental health issues. On the other
hand, if teens are held with other adult inmates, they have a very high chance of being physically
or sexually assaulted. According to research done by Estavalez Castro, 21% of sexual assaults
among inmates is forced upon youth. Of that 21%, 80% of those teens were physically forced
into sexual activity (Castro 3). Throwing kids in an adult jail also puts them in a dangerous
environment and tells them they can never change and that no one cares what became of them
(Garinger 1). Being surrounded by felons during a developmental stage of life can have adverse

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effects of these teens. There are no therapeutic services in jails to help rehabilitate youth. When
put in an adult jail, teens are also deprived of an education. Gail Garingers agrees when she
writes Children are denied access to an education and rehabilitation programs and left without
hope or help (Garinger 1) in her article Juveniles Dont Deserve Life Sentences. When they are
released, they face an obstacle of learning because they have been kept out of an education
system for so long. There is a major flaw in the way that our country is trying to stop teen
violence, and something needs to be done so these adolescents have an environment that
rehabilitates and supports the transformation from delinquency to a law-abiding citizen.
Solution:
The solution that is being proposed in this research paper is the elimination of laws which
enable juveniles to be transferred to an adult justice system. These laws that enable teens to be
tried and convicted as adults are judicial waivers and direct files. With the elimination of these
laws, juveniles can stay in the juvenile justice system where they hopefully can be rehabilitated.
This change can both ensure public safety while also providing juveniles with a system that
would provide them with necessary treatment.
The elimination of laws that enable teens to be tried and convicted as adults is not a new
concept to both law makers and other activists, pushing to end legislation that enables coldblooded treatment of adolescents. Both the Campaign for Youth Justice and the California
Alliance: Youth and Community Justice explain the impact and progressive changes that need to
be taken in these laws. In the article Treat Kids as Kids, by Estivaliz Castro, David Muhammad,
and Pat Arthur, they advocate for the elimination of both direct files and juvenile waivers. The
implementation of direct files is due to proposition 21, which was spoken about earlier in the
problem section. Estivaliz Castro explained, The use of direct files is vulnerable to a

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prosecutors abuse of power (Estivaliz 5). Estivaliz makes the reader knowledgeable that
prosecutors should not be trusted with the future of juveniles. There can be ulterior motives for
the amount of juvenile transferred to adult court. Direct files allow for youth to be tried in adult
court without a fitness hearinga short hearing where a judge decides whether or not a child is
fit to withstand an adult hearing. The elimination of this law would make it more difficult for
children to be automatically transferred to an adult hearing, and have a large impact on the
amount of juveniles transferred since most teens are transferred due to direct files. The Florida
Department of Juvenile Justice found in a 2000 poll that 95% of juveniles transferred to adult
court is due to direct files (http://www.pdmiami.com/djj_study_transfer_summary.pdf). The
other 5% of juveniles transferred is due to juvenile waivers. A juvenile waiver occurs when a
juvenile court judge transfers a case from juvenile court in order to deny the juvenile the
protection of the juvenile jurisdictions provided (Findlaws). Basically a judge moves a teen to
adult jurisdiction and deprives them of their juvenile rights. The elimination of these laws will
have a large impact on the futures of juveniles today, raising the difficulty of transferring
adolescents.
Not only have these progressive movement been advocating for these changes, but state
legislatures across the United States have been moving towards the elimination of these
unsatisfactory laws. Of the 50 states in the U.S., 14 of them have changed legislation in some
way to combat the unfair treatment of juveniles. That means that 28% of the United States
legislatures see an issue and understand that changes need to be made, and the people need to be
informed for the United States to be rid of these laws. The 14 states that were mentioned above
are Colorado, Maine, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Illinois, Mississippi, Arizona,
Delaware, Indiana, Nevada, Utah, Washington, Georgia, and Texas. Of the 14 states, 4 of them

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have implemented laws eliminating the housing of juveniles in adult jails (Colorado, Maine,
Virginia, and Pennsylvania). 3 of them extended the juvenile jurisdiction in order to older youth
out of the adult justice system (Connecticut, Illinois, and Mississippi). 10 of the states reformed
their transfer laws making it easier for adolescents to stay in the juvenile justice system (Arizona,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, and Washington).
Lastly, 4 states have changed sentencing putting into account the developmental differences
between juveniles and adults (Colorado, Georgia, Texas, and Washington). The information
above was provided by the Campaign for Youth Justice. These are all small steps in a larger
solution, which is the elimination of both direct files and juvenile waivers.
After the elimination of these inhumane laws, teens will be able to stay in the juvenile
justice system where they belong. The ability to keep teens in the juvenile justice system will
raise public safety. Public safety is a very concerning topic, and has large effects on the country.
In research done by Columbia University, Jeffrey Sagan identified that teens had a higher rate of
recidivism when held in an adult setting. Teens held in a juvenile setting had a substantially
lower rate of recidivism (PBS). The exact number was 56% (held in adult setting) compared to
41% (held in juvenile setting). In other words, Jeffrey Sagan is explaining that there would be
less crime in the United States if adolescents were left under juvenile jurisdiction.
The juvenile justice system also provides a rehabilitative perspective at tackling the issue
of juvenile crime. During the trial portion of conviction, teens are considered delinquent instead
of criminal. This is a large difference because both have different connotations. The use of the
word delinquent proposes a chance that the juvenile can be rehabilitated, while the use of
criminal does not. Congressmen Chris Murphy reiterated this point when he exclaimed, When a
kid commits a crime, society should not give up on them. Labelling teens as criminals is giving

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up on the rehabilitation of adolescents. The juvenile justice system also provides an education
system in order for teens to be able to further their education. Adult prisons do not. Also, when
teens are tried and convicted in the juvenile system, their records are sealed once they are adults.
This keeps them from having an adult record before they have even become adults. This also
helps them with job opportunities when they are released. The adult justice system gives teens an
adult record which keeps them from job opportunities in their future. Lastly, the juvenile justice
system provides an understanding, rehabilitative system to discipline teens. The adult system
only provides a punitive method of discipline.
Another upside is the amount of money saved by the public for every teen diverted from
the adult justice system. Keeping teens in the juvenile justice system would save Americans
millions of dollars in cost for incarcerating teens as adults. Research done by the Pew Center on
the State explained that $5.7 million dollars would be saved by society if teens are diverged from
adult incarceration (Campaign for Youth Justice). The money saved by society by holding teens
in a juvenile setting can be reinvested in the juvenile justice system in order to perfect the
methods at which teens rehabilitated in this very sensitive developmental periods of life.
On the other hand, many people still believe that children should be tried as adults. This
is on the theory that If you do the crime, you do the time. Many of these people depend on the
government to do the right for the United States as a whole. What these people are blind to is that
although the government does make many well thought-out decisions, they also make many
wrong decisions. In this instance, it is treating children with the same parameters as adults.
Others that believe that children should be tried as adults have emotional connections to this
situation. Many of these opinions are bias and based on the fact that they have lost a loved one or
have been victims of a crime committed by an adolescent. This idea is completely absurd, and

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should not have any impact on whether adolescents should be tried as adults. What they overlook
is the fact that children do not have the same brain capacity as adults, as discussed in the problem
section of this research paper and that jail has many negative effects on the children that must
adhere to it. They also dont understand that children have the ability to be rehabilitated while
adults prove harder to rehabilitate.

Conclusion:
As previously stated in the problem and solution sections, there is a problem at hand
which needs to be dealt with immediately. Progressive movements have been advocating for
change for the last 15 years, but changes cannot be made unless the public is informed about the
issue and is ready to push legislation to make changes. The changes that need to be made are the
elimination of any laws that assist in transferring juveniles to the adult justice system, and letting
the juvenile justice system do its job. Public safety will be achieved and not another child will
have to abide to the adult justice system or its negative effects. This is a battle that cannot be
fully won until there is not a single adolescent convicted and housed as an adult. I have spoken
about all the downsides of children convictions as adults, and how there are no true upsides of
this inhumane treatment. The future of these children lies in your hands, the public voice. Lets
make the world a better place for everybody.