As the crime rate continues to rise daily, it is becoming well-known that a good portion of these major offenses are not being committed solely by adults. In a court of law, a person who is 18 is tried as a minor, with the exception of a few states considering 16 and 17 year olds to be adults in their courts. Some children do not hesitate to commit serious crimes for the simple reason that if they get caught, they know the penalty for their crime will not be too harsh since they are still considered a minor. Not to mention, it will not stay on the person’s permanent record, forgiving their wrongdoing in a way. Criminals are criminals no matter what age. Stories of 16 and 17 year old juveniles committing murder, theft, and rape frequent the
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In these cases, issues arise of prosecutors wanting to try these children as an adult. This is nonsense. Under no circumstance should a child to be tried as an adult in a murder trial. Yes, there is probably no doubt that the child did commit the murder, but the next step of the prosecution is sentencing. Is the court going to demand that this young child serve time in a federal prison or possibly get the death penalty? Probably not, so trying a child as an adult in this instance would be nonsense. The only law associated with this says that children under 7 years of age are exempt from and prosecution, with the understanding that they are not old enough to understand that they have committed a crime. In place of punishment being executed on the child, parents of the child may have to pay a fine or may be found unfit to parent the child. An example of a case like this happened in 2009, in Pennsylvania, when a 12 year old boy killed his father’s pregnant fiancé. This young child shot this lady in the head and faced charges as an adult. If found guilty, he would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. No doubt exists that this child committed this crime, but prison is no place for a child to spend his entire
In these cases, issues arise of prosecutors wanting to try these children as an adult. This is nonsense. Under no circumstance should a child to be tried as an adult in a murder trial. Yes, there is probably no doubt that the child did commit the murder, but the next step of the prosecution is sentencing. Is the court going to demand that this young child serve time in a federal prison or possibly get the death penalty? Probably not, so trying a child as an adult in this instance would be nonsense. The only law associated with this says that children under 7 years of age are exempt from and prosecution, with the understanding that they are not old enough to understand that they have committed a crime. In place of punishment being executed on the child, parents of the child may have to pay a fine or may be found unfit to parent the child. An example of a case like this happened in 2009, in Pennsylvania, when a 12 year old boy killed his father’s pregnant fiancé. This young child shot this lady in the head and faced charges as an adult. If found guilty, he would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. No doubt exists that this child committed this crime, but prison is no place for a child to spend his entire