Juveniles in the Adult Criminal Justice System

Juveniles have not always had their own court system in the United States (Mears 2002). The first juvenile court in this country was created in Cook County, Illinois in 1899 (Mears, 2002). The idea of parens patriae, or looking out in the best interests of a child, was the basis of the court's job (Mears, 2001). The purpose of this being that it is the courts main focus to rehabilitate juvenile offenders and to give them the resources they need to live a productive life (Mears, 2001). This could be access to education, health care, or counseling. Parens patriae could also apply to children whose parents are not able to take care of them properly (Mears, 2002). Over the past several decades there has been a push for violent or repeat juvenile offenders to be transferred to adult courts, and to be sentenced as adults for their crimes. Many reasons such has deterrence, reducing the crime rate, and making sentences racially equal has led to a "get tough" stance of crimes committed by teens (Mears, 2002).

From that idea, new types of sentencing are being formed to deal with the worst juvenile offenders. Blended sentencing is being used to combine adult and juvenile sentences to come up with a better sentence to help violent crime offenders (Sprott, 1998). Some states now have specific guidelines to use when sentencing youths (Mears, 2002). Using the death penalty for teens is another topic that is still being debated. One main question that still remains and will be discussed in this paper is whether or not serious juvenile offenders should be treated as juveniles or sentenced as adults for their crime.

Should Lee Boyd Malvo have been charged as and adult?

Lee Boyd Malvo, one of the convicted D.C. snipers, is a youth that was stuck in the middle of the controversy of what to do with violent juvenile offenders. John Muhammad and Malvo went on a shooting rampage around the DC metro area in 2002, shooting several people in Virginia and Maryland (Wikipedia Introductions, 2005). They are also suspects in cases in Alabama and Louisiana (Wikipedia, 2005).

The case of The Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Lee Boyd Malvo a/k/a John Lee Malvo stirred up public controversy over whether juveniles should not only be tried as adults but also sentenced to the death penalty. The case started in a frenzy, over whether Virginia or Maryland would be the first state to try him for his crimes of capital murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony (Wikipedia Criminal Prosecutions, 2005). With Virginia winning the first chance at him, they also amended a charge of terrorism from a new law that was created after September 11^th (Wikipedia, 2005). His attorney used the insanity defense and tried to argue that John Mohammad, the adult sniper, had brainwashed him into committing the crimes (Wikipedia, 2005). With this defense, they could bring up all of the bad things that had happened to him as a child as a reason for his commission of the crimes (Wikipedia, 2005). .

As a child Malvo was passed from family member to family friend so that his mother could find work (Wikipedia Childhood, 2005). Sometimes this was for extended periods of time. His father was never really in his life. After years of moving around, Malvo met Muhammad through his mother (Wikipedia Joining John Allen Muhammad, 2005). Muhammad introduced him to Islam and became a father figure to Malvo Until this point Malvo had been described as a great student and very bright, but then he started missing school and then left his home country of Antigua illegally in 1999 for the United States (Wikipedia, 2005).

It is easy to see that this youth was strongly influenced by John Muhammad and he could have been talked into doing anything by him if he looked up to him that much. He considered Muhammed to be his "father" and most kids will do anything that their father says is okay. So should have Malvo been sentenced to a life sentence for do what his "father" told him to do?

One possible answer to this question is whether or not it is believed that Malvo had the capability to understand whether or not what he was doing was wrong and against the law. He was seventeen at the time of the crimes and many youth are see as not able to be fully culpable for their crimes because they don't aren't developed enough to see the full extent of the consquences of their actions or they just simply aren't able to control the urge to do something (Von Hirsh, 2001). He was being allowed to shot people that he was told were evil and so anyone would have a deep down urge to want to kill someone that they thought was bad. The problem with this is that the majority of people are able to control these urges. Most people, including teenagers, know that killing another person is wrong and that it is against the law.

Many teens are kept in the juvenile courts because they are seen to be inexperienced and they do not fully understand the effects a crime can have on their future (Von Hirsh, 224). Von Hirsh in his article Proportionate Sentences for Juveniles brings up the idea of "punitive bite" (Von Hirsh, 225). If a juvenile is convicted of a crime they can lose educational or vocational opportunities in their future. Someone may not be able to afford college if they have a drug conviction because if you are convicted of drug possession you can not qualify for federal financial aid. The stigma attached to a young person that is branded as bad or criminal can carry with him for many years. This can affect his self-image and self-esteem if they lose hope in the future and that they can better themselves by learning from their mistakes (Von Hirsh, 225). Punishments should not be as hard for juveniles for this main reason that their lives could be destroyed before it begins if they have to carry this guilt and branding of a criminal (Von Hirsh, 229). This is especially true for first time, non-violent offenders.

A second way of looking at the life sentence for him is to see how likely he is to reoffend (Von Hirsh, 222). If Muhammad is removed from his life and he has several years of counseling will Malvo commit another crime such as this one? There is no real way of knowing since he didn't have a prior criminal conviction and he will not be given the chance. His crimes were the worst possible he could have committed but that doesn't mean that several years down the road he wouldn't be able to change. Remember your life when you were seventeen compared to what it is today. No one is the same person they were when they were a teenager compared to who they are when they are older.

Lee Boyd Malvo was facing the death penalty for his crimes since he committed capital murder in Virginia which is one of the 37 states that currently supports execution (Skovron, Scott, & Cullen, 547). This would have made him one of the 218 juveniles that have been executed by adult courts, but the motion was turned and he received a life sentence (Skovron, et al., 547). Eleven states currently have no minimum age set to use for giving out the death penalty(Skovron, et al., 547).

A main question to ask yourself about the use of this sentence is how will this reduce crime in teenagers if they don't fully understand why they are going to be put to death? Adults are capable of comprehending that if they kill someone there is a change they will get the same back in punishment. The video games and violence in television shows has desensitized many kids into think that it is all a game and guns are a normal part of life until they reach an age where they start taking care of themselves and learn there is more to life than that. There are many people that think that this is just an excuse but if all that a child is exposed to is violence then they will learn that violence is acceptable behavior. I believe that some of these offenders can be rehabilitated even if their crime was violent by trained professionals that can help teens that may just need love and a positive role model in their lives.

Malvo will spend the rest of his life in a prision with adults if he is not given the death penalty in any other state that attempts to try him. He is now an adult but will it help him improve his life by surrounding him with people that may be repeat violent offenders. Even though he will spend the rest of his life in prison he can still change himself since he is still young enough to learn new behaviors. Juveniles that are housed in adult prisons are commonly victims of physical and sexual abuse by the older inmates (Schiraldi & Zeindenberg, 1997). They also face a higher suicide rate than those that are treated in juvenile facities (Schiraldi & Zeindenberg, 1997). Public opinion polls have consistently reported that even those that prefer juveniles to be harshly sentenced still believe they should be incarcerated with other juveniles and not adults (Mears, 2002).

A new idea of blended sentencing is being used to make harsher sentences for juvenile offenders (Moore, 2002). This type of punishment was created to give treatment to a juvenile but they might have to serve a prision sentence later on (Moore, 2002). It is a good start of an idea to help instead of only charging them as an adult. This strategy is only used for older offenders that are close to adult age (Moore, 2002).

Only one percent of these offenders are being waived into adult courts, but I believe that all juveniles should be tried in juvenile courts (Mears, 2002). They were created for a reason and certain people shouldn't be pin pointed out to be treated different from their peers. All courts should be acting the in the best interests of these children and that should be in a warm, loving environment where they can get any treatment or care that they need to have a happy and productive life.

Conclusion

It is still a very complex and controversial issue of how to treat the worst of child offenders and even if it is worth the time and money to rehabiliate them. Many people argue that the community can not be safe without putting all violent criminals behind bars. I argee there are some people that can not be rehabilitated but when a minor is involved I believe they should at least be given to the chance to overcome their crimes. Many of these offenders may be able to overcome the abuse, neglect, or violence they have seen in their lives. Many of these kids are still able to be transformed into better citizens if they are given the proper opportunities and given better role models in their lives.

References

Lee Boyd Malvo (2005), Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 30, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Boyd_Malvo

Mears, D. P. (2001, April). Getting Tough with Juvenile Offenders, Explaining Support for Sanctioning Juveniles as Adults. Criminal Justice and Behavior. 28(2), 206-226. Retrieved October 30, 2005 from SAGE Full-Text Collections: Criminology Database.

Mears, D.P. (2002, February). Sentencing Guidelines and the Transformation

of Juvenile Justice in the 21st Century.Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 18(1), 6-19. Retrieved October 30, 2005 from SAGE Full-Text Collections: Criminology Database.

Schiraldi, V. and Zeidenberg, J. (1997)The Risks Juveniles Face When They Are Incarcerated With Adults. Retrieved October 31, 2005 from http://www.cjcj.org/jpi/risks.html

Skovron, S.C., Scott, J.E., and Cullen, F.T. (1989, October). Death Penalty for Juveniles: An Assessment of Public Support. Crime and Deliquency. 35(1), 546-561. Retrieved November 1, 2005 from SAGE Full-Text Collections: Criminology Database.

Sprott, J.B. (1998, July). Understanding Public Opposition to a Separate Youth Justice System. Crime and Deliquency. 44(3), 399-411. Retrieved November 1, 2005 from SAGE Full-Text Collections: Criminology Database.

Von HirshA. (2001, April) Proportionate Sentences for Juveniles. Punishment and Society. 3(2), 221-236. Retrieved October 31, 2005 from SAGE Full-Text Collections: Criminology Database.