Marin Sinzer Case Study

While the “criminal is a child” approach to the juvenile justice system is appealing due to its forgiving nature and emphasis on rehabilitation rather than punishment, there are some cases in which this decision is not so cut-and-dry. One of these instances of a legal “gray area” is the case of Marin Sinzer, who was charged for the murder of Tammy Shevin, 25 years after the crime was committed. The now 38 year old is petitioning to be tried as a juvenile, since he was only 13 at the time of the crime, a year younger than the waiver age at the time. While many proponents of the “criminal is a child” approach take that stance because of the physical and psychological dangers posed to juveniles who are placed in adult prisons, in this unique …show more content…
More importantly, however, is the fact that he would have been tried as a juvenile given his age at the time. Had Sinzer been above the waiver age, then it would be appropriate for him to be tried as an adult, because even though the waiver age decreased from 14 to 12, it did so after the crime was committed.
In the case of Michael Skakel, for example, he was charged in 2002 at the age of 41 for murdering his neighbor when he was 15, and since he was above the waiver age at the time, he was tried as an adult and sentenced to 20 years in prison (Varin, 2013). Recent pressure from his relative, Robert Kennedy Jr., has caused an uproar in this case and it is being retried due to a decision by the judge that Skakel’s initial lawyer didn’t represent him effectively. Nevertheless, the initial verdict in 2002 was made because even though Skakel was a juvenile at the time, he was over the waiver age and therefore was tried as an adult, even though it was 27 years later.
Though the decision is a difficult one to make considering the unusual circumstances, using the past as precedent, Marin Sinzer should be tried in juvenile court, despite his age, due to the fact that he was a minor at the time of the