Violent Crimes & the Juvenile Justice System
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Over 100 years ago, the United States adopted a separate justice system for juveniles charged with violations of criminal law (Smith and Bilchik 20). The purpose was that youthful offenders could be rehabilitated before they became lifelong criminals. Today, there are still separate justice systems for adults and juveniles in state and federal systems, but the juvenile system is not equipped for the shift to increasingly violent crime among juveniles. Recently a Michigan case involved a juvenile convicted of second-degree murder he committed when he was 11. In 1999, 16 percent of those arrested for violent crimes were under the age of 18. Nine percent of murders, 17 percent of forcible rape arrests, and 25 percent of robbery arrests were for crimes committed by juveniles. Drug use, gangs, and family breakdowns were at the root of most of these arrests. Juveniles have usually received shorter sentences than adults, and have been released at a certain age, whether or not they have been rehabilitated (Smith and Bilchik 20). With the increase in violent crime, many states have enacted laws allowing them to transfer older juveniles accused of serious crimes to be tried in the adult justice system. This allows the juveniles to be sentenced as adults. The Bureau of Statistics results show 20 percent of juveniles arrested at age 18 had their first arrest prior to age 12. These juveniles are the most likely candidates to end up in the adult justice system.
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onwealth doesn't even keep statistics on Latino youth in the juvenile justice system, so there is no way to trace these youths from arrest to adjudication. There needs to be indicators of success and failure in the system. The cause of the disparity needs to be determined and measures taken to assess adequate legal counsel and educational alternatives to incarceration. Educational resources to work with the youths who need to be in detention are required, and there needs to be an end to the overcrowding of the system by youths who would be better served if they remained at home and in school.
There are 3,000 juveniles under commitment in the Massachusetts juvenile justice system at any given time (Rose A 101). Most are detained in prisons surrounded by barbed wire, in facilities which appear to be locked dormitories. Because of the lack of resources at the Department of Youth Services, there are few hobby areas or outside spaces, so the youths spend hours watching television in a cafeteria. Between 80 percent and 90 percent of youths in the juvenile system nationwide end up in the criminal justice system as adults, and as a result, racial disparities continue in the adult system. The Human Rights Watch found that whi
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Approximate Word count = 3846
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page)
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