Has the Juvenile Court Been Sufficiently Criminalized?
Over the past two centuries this country has made progress in the right direction when it comes to juveniles and their sanctions for delinquent acts. The majority of people in the United States would agree that having separate juvenile courts for minors is sufficiently affective, but what are the boundaries for these courts. After the landmark case of In Re Gualt, juvenile courts changed dramatically. The juvenile courts still have issues of claiming to be in the best interest of the child but frequently hand out punitive punishments solely based on the crime and the record of the individual rather than pushing towards a more educational or …show more content…
For example, in Illinois, juveniles are required to register as sex offenders on the same registry as the adult sex offenders. The state uses a few different categories to determine the severity of the offense for juveniles; only one category does not require a full lifetime in the registry. “(Criminal sexual abuse, which usually refers to touching or fondling) garners a registration for 10 years.” These types of punishments are known to “not show positive results” (Oberman, 2014, p. 2). Sex offender registries do seem to be more effective for adults but with juveniles it does not appear to be exactly fair or effective. Juveniles should not be put on a list for the remainder of their life because of something that happened while they were juveniles. Juveniles should also not be put on the same list as adult sex offenders while they are minors. It is strange that juveniles do not even have to be waived to adult court for any of this to happen, the juvenile court can use the adult sex offender list as a punishment (Oberman, …show more content…
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Oberman, L. (2014, March 25). Illinois Far Behind, Too Harsh With Juvenile Sex Offenders on Registry, Discipline. Retrieved October 20, 2015, from Juvenile Justice Information Exchange website: http://jjie.org/study-illinois-far-behind-too-harsh-with-juvenile-sex-offenders-on-registry-discipline/
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