Juveniles Being Tried As Adults

Juveniles in American societies should encounter the responsibility and consequence of being tried as adults, despite their age, when committing unspeakable, heinous crimes. In Richard A. Serrano’s article, Young killers serving life without parole may get chance at freedom, he introduces reasons why it is acceptable for juveniles to be tried as adults. Seranno lists, seventeen-year-old Johnny Freeman “raped a five-year-old and tossed her from a fourteenth-story window,” sixteen-year-old Peter Saunders “bludgeoned an elderly woman, then from prison mailed a bomb-like device to a judge,” and sixteen-year-old David Biro “marched a husband and his pregnant wife down their basement stairs and shot them both” (Serrano, paragraph 12). Although …show more content…
Adam Liptak’s article, Locked Away Forever? The Supreme Court Is Considering Whether Life Imprisonment For Teens Offenders Constitutes ‘Cruel and Unusual’ Punishment, asserts that in most cases, “juveniles cross the line, and they have to be treated as adults and punished as adults” (Liptak 14). Age does not determine maturity, nor does it determine responsibility. There is no telling whether someone means it or not when they do something they are not supposed to do. When a child commits murder or rape, people say it is no big deal because they are just kids and were not thinking straight. They do not realize how much one cruel act can seriously affect not only the victim, but the victim’s friends and family as well. When someone is murdered or commits suicide because of bullying, it leaves a lifetime of sadness and hurt. Taking someone’s life is not a joke. It is not something that can be given back. Adolescents need to know what results from their actions. Because of this, it is followed that juveniles should be tried as adults. If children want to act like adults and commit crimes, then they should be treated as adults and