Persuasive Essay: Adults Should Never Be Tried As Adults

Children ages fourteen or under should never be convicted as adults no matter the crime. One reason they shouldn’t be tried is because the child could have been abused or in any other way be neglected by a family member. This reason showed itself in a case in Alabama where Susan Ferriss writes “And if ever a pathological background might have contributed to a 14-year-old’s commission of a crime, it is here. Miller’s stepfather physically abused him, the ruling said, his alco­holic and drug-addicted mother neglected him; he had been in and out of foster care as a result; and he had tried to kill himself four times, the first when he should have been in kindergarten”(Ferriss). Adolescents can be physically and mentally abused causing them to act out irrationally. Also another reason is stated by Susan Ferriss says “Children’s vulnerability to family and social pressure — and scientific evidence supporting children’s capacity to change — figured prominently in the court’s ruling that such sentencing violates the Eighth Amendment’s …show more content…
The Eighth Amendment states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted”. So if a child is tried as an adult is going against the Eighth Amendment in America’s constitution. Next a kid that is too young doesn’t fully understand the serious consequences of committing malicious crime. Malcolm Ritter wrote “That ruling relies on the most recent research on the adolescent brain, which indicates the juvenile brain is still maturing in the teen years and reasoning and judgment are developing well into the early to mid 20s”(Ritter). This explains that ones brain is not fully developed at a young age. Malcolm Ritter got this writing from Laurence Steinberg who is a psychology professor at Temple University. Children should not be tried as adults and the previous facts should