Juvenile and Death Sentence
Committing crimes does not necessary belong to adult people. People under the legal age set by various jurisdictions have committed crimes that require legal actions. Several jurisdictions consider individuals under the age of 18 years as children, and thus, cases involving them are dealt with under the juvenile laws. Death penalty for crimes has been a source of debate, especially where juveniles are involved. Cases that are met with death penalties are cases such as murder. The law has, in several occasions, allowed the sentencing to death of individuals involved in crime even as juveniles. Several candidates of death sentence in the US are individuals who committed the crimes as juveniles. Although several attempts have been made to exempt juvenile criminals from a death sentence, a debate has remained on whether the individuals should be given lenient sentences even at their maturity ages.
Children are always given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to committing little crimes. However, several jurisdictions have recognized that children can commit serious crimes, and therefore, the law cannot just ignore them. Thus, the establishment of juvenile courts is as a result of children’s active participation in a crime. Children have participated in crimes ranging from simple theft to murder where cases of the shooting have been reported in schools. The response to crimes done by children cannot be taken lightly because lives are put in danger, and their parents cannot handle some children. Therefore, juvenile courts should be improved to ensure that cases involving children are given maximum attention to avoid having more children from engaging in crime. The issue of the death penalty should, however, be treated differently when children are involved.
Children are not able to make reformed decisions. Some crimes committed by children are as a result of lack of proper understanding or poor upbringing. The parents may be blamed for several crimes that could have been avoided if children were watched closely. However, when crimes happen, the responsibility of the parent is overlooked, and the law takes its course. The ruling in cases involving children gives judges a dilemma since children might plead for mercy under the excuse of not knowing what they were doing. However, several courts have been leaving young criminals in cells until they attain adult age before making a ruling concerning their cases. The strategy used by the courts has, however, been criticized since the adult individuals are judged based on past events. The best strategy that could be used to solve cases involving children is making rulings when individuals are still young. The young criminals can be put under supervised correction until they are of age, and then an analysis of their character is done to assess whether releasing them is a wise idea. Generally, death penalties should not be imposed on children.
In sum, the debate on the acceptability of juveniles and death penalties remains active with the different laws passed every day. Death penalty should, however, not be used on juveniles since the ability of decision making at a young age is weak. Child criminals should instead be subjected to supervised correctional services with punishment to correct them before attaining the legal age where a decision can be made depending on their character at that time. Generally, death punishment should not be an option where juveniles are involved.
References
Johnson, S. L., Blume, J. H., & Freedman, H. L. (2016). The Pre-Furman Juvenile Death Penalty in South Carolina: Young Black Life Was Cheap. SCL Rev., 68, 331.