In the western hemisphere your 18th birthday is a very enormous deal. People plan for it for years and that is the day pre-teens and teenagers look forward to. To most, it represents all the opportunities the world has to offer, it gives us a political voice and it opens up a whole new world of clubs, partying and freedom. But with those great perks comes a huge responsibility; in the United States of America, your eighteenth birthday is when the judicial system can legally press charges on you as an adult. But recently the juvenile court system has been tried more youth as adults for committing heinous crimes. If as a society we recognize that there is a difference between a 16 year old thing and an 18 year old level of cognition, why do we continually send youth to be treated like adults in a criminal court? Due to the lack cognitive awareness of a juvenile mind and lack of development in their character, it is unethical for the United States to force children to partake in the criminal court
In 1899 the juvenile court system was established in the United States becoming the nation 's first …show more content…
When this news went viral, the public was outraged that the boy who strangled her was only able to be locked up for two years. Devastated, the father of Amy Yates petitioned the court and a new law was proposed in 2006 called Amy’s Law. This law lengthened the time a juvenile over the age of 13 could be hoped for committing a felony. This began the road to reconstruction of the juvenile court system and progressed to become five years or until the offender turns 21. At this time, it was commonly known that teenagers lacked the maturity to take responsibility for their actions the way adults could, however in recent years, number of juvenile criminals being tried as adults is increasing and states are developing get tougher
In 1899 the juvenile court system was established in the United States becoming the nation 's first …show more content…
When this news went viral, the public was outraged that the boy who strangled her was only able to be locked up for two years. Devastated, the father of Amy Yates petitioned the court and a new law was proposed in 2006 called Amy’s Law. This law lengthened the time a juvenile over the age of 13 could be hoped for committing a felony. This began the road to reconstruction of the juvenile court system and progressed to become five years or until the offender turns 21. At this time, it was commonly known that teenagers lacked the maturity to take responsibility for their actions the way adults could, however in recent years, number of juvenile criminals being tried as adults is increasing and states are developing get tougher