The Effects of Juveniles Who Are Convicted as Adults

I will be doing a paper on the effects of juveniles who are convicted as adults. Additionally, I want to explore the history of this topic. I personally believe it is unjust to issue minors the sentencing that adults normally receive. Observing our current Criminal Justice system, most juveniles that are convicted as adults are, unfortunately, expected to grow and mature in an environment with no guidance or role models to look up to. As a result of this they tend to lose sight of what is the right thing to do. They are surrounded by those who are just like them with no beneficial factors. Due to this, once they are released from this knowledge-restricting environment they haven’t been taught or learned how to change in a positive manner which inclines them to committing additional crimes in the future.

I choose this topic because I had recently watched a documentary, The Central Park 5, which deeply resonated with me. I couldn’t believe what these teenagers had gone through all because the system had failed them. Both the short and long term impacts on these minors were to a rigorous extent. I want to further research this topic because, after watching this, I wondered how many others were wrongfully convicted due to the way they look, where they came from, and overall just the stereotypical image they happen to fit.

Korey Wise was a 16 year who was sent to an adult prison with a false conviction of rape. He was forced to grow up by the system.

This case goes completely against David Miller’s three principles of justice. The first one being their needs being met. These boys weren’t given food or water and once they were prisoned they had a low quality of life. The second is everyone gets what they deserve. The juveniles didn’t commit a crime but were still prisoned and considered criminals by the nation. Lastly, equality, the most important in my opinion. These young men were not given any equality throughout the case otherwise they wouldn’t have been wrongfully convicted. They were racially discriminated.

I personally believe that the criminal justice system should have moved towards a transformative justice approach after this specific case. It is a mirror on our society. They lost a lot from the years taken from them. They don’t have the things they should have at this age. Their youth was taken from them. No money bring the time and life back. Transformative justice acknowledges that the individual is the product of the community so to really address crime, we must change the community, environment, or structure. The community and authorities at the time were prejudice, this is a major problem. If the nation didn’t hold this attitude at the time the case would have completely changed the verdict.

The number of juveniles that are committed into adult jails and prisons has been increasing tremendously throughout the years. “On any given day, around 10,000 juveniles are housed in adult jails and prisons – 7,500 in jails and 2,700 in prisons, respectively”(Curley 1). The laws of this practice differ exceedingly by each state. The state of Texas allows that juveniles convicted of particular crimes to be dealt with as an adult. Differing from most states, Texas has very few restrictions when it comes to trying teen convicts as adults. A juvenile can be handled in adult court for any felony offense under two circumstances: probable cause to suspect the juvenile committed the crime and the juvenile courts must consider the criticalness nature of the crime or the juvenile’s background to call for proceedings in an adult court. Additionally, Texas is one of the nine states in the country that frequently arraigns 17 year olds as adults. There have been numerous attempts to reform the law and raise the age of adult criminal accountability to 18, however, all have failed in the legislature.

In 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States ordered that convicting juveniles of felony murder to life in prison without the oppurtunity of parole was considered to be cruel and unusual punishment. This case involved the two states, Alabama and Arkansa, and their laws which auhtorized that all people who have been convicted of felony-murder would be sentenced to life in prison without considering individualized sentencing as well as the chance, not assurance, of parole. The Court, then declared that juveniles are to be evaluated separately than adults because juveniles hold lower competence and a better ability to rehabilitate. Additionally, the Court became aware that juveniles are further affected to negative peer pressure and family related pressure.

In the case of Cameron Moon v. State of Texas, taken place during 2014, the Texas high court voided the juveniles relocation to an adult court. The court stated that the information collected was factually inadequate to support the ruling. The Supreme Court stated that juvenile courts need to clearly demonstrate their reasoning for the relocation if they want their decision to be addressed. Cameron Moon was convicted for a murder crime at 16. While he did not have any former convictions besides a violation for keying a car. Due to this, The State of Texas called for Moon to stand trial as an adult. During his hearing, the state didn;t offer evidence about the components the judge was legally obligated to acknowledge before he was able to order a transfer to the adult court, regardless of the seriousness of the offense. In defense, his attorney made sure those in the court knew he lacked maturity and wasn’t fully mentally developed. Because of this he would benefit from the rehabilitation advantage the juvenile system provided. Rehabilitation programs are extremely important in the juvenile system in Texas, while the adult system is entirely constructed to penalize criminals. Regardless of this, Moon was convicted as a guilty offender and sentenced to thirty years in adult jail. “The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that the juvenile court abused its discretion in waiving its jurisdiction over Cameron Moon and certifying him for trial as an adult. The district court’s decision was vacated”(Medlin 1).

There are numerous programs and opportunities that are given to juvenile convicts that are sent to juvenile prisons/jails. There are many laws intact that provide juveniles with education. In contrast, various adult prisons are not given access to education. Without education juveniles aren’t given the ability to nourish themselves. They are forced to be stuck at the same mentality they came in with. Education is something that can only aid a person. If prison facilities aren’t focusing on educating criminals then the state can’t expect to see a change. They are setting them up for failure. With education comes knowledge that leads to better chances of getting a job and being able to start making a living. Without that once they are released from prison they are stuck with no option to improve themselves and move forward.

Juveniles are exposed to a higher risk, than any other group of criminals, of sexual harassment in the adult system. “The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 asserted that children are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted in adult prisons than in juvenile facilities, often within the first 48 hours of their incarceration” (Curley 1). Furthermore, juveniles that are placed into an adult prison are highly exposed to mentally harming practices. This is due to the lack of mental health services available to them in the adult prisons. Numerous juveniles are sent into isolation, that can greatly impact their lives and mentality in a negative way. It can even cause mental disorders. Korey Wise, from the Central Park Five, was placed in isolation for an extremely long period of time and it caused him to hallucinate as well as act in very desperate manner constantly. Disturbingly, “youth housed in adult jails are 36 times more likely to commit suicide than those in juvenile facilities”.

Once these juveniles are released the system makes it entirely impossible to be able to live a normal life. They begin to feel like a burden in their own house. This can result in resorting to the drug game and selling drugs just to be able to make money. It will make them feel like they don’t have anything to live for anymore. Once you are a registered offender living a normal life is impossible. It restricts them from receiving job opportunities, education, and even financial aid. This causes higher chances of recidivism. “Texas passed laws to keep kids in facilities closer to home as well as decrease prosecution for minor offenses by students in school, this cut the number of children in adult court by 83 percent”.

This system isn’t benefiting anyone, we need to push towards reforming all 50 states. The time these juveniles spend in these prisons pushes them back, mentally and educationally. These are because of their criminal record given to them by adult facilities. This prevents them from learning from their mistakes they made when they were still developing a right state a mind. “Incarcerating juveniles, at tremendous cost, serves to reduce their educational attainment and increase the probability of incarceration as an adult”. To throw away one's whole life for a crime they committed when they weren’t even fully developed is absurd and proves that the system has failed its citizens and calls for a transformative approach to the criminal justice system.