In a very small section
of our text they address juveniles tried as adults. Normally crimes committed
by a minor are handled in the juvenile justice system, unless the crime is
serious or violent. The books prompts us to ask ourselves if the age should be
lowered to be tried as an adult given everything learned in this chapter. In my
opinion there are many factors that are involved in committing a serious and violent
crime for anyone. Mental health, environment, chemical dependency, socio economics
etc. I do take those crimes seriously but I think that any child that commits a
serious or violent crime should be assessed, and all circumstances should be
taken into consideration before they decided to try them as an adult. It is obvious
by our text that teenage brains are not always fully capable of understanding
the impact of their crime. When I was in high school a neighborhood boy named Ryan
Alexander (16 at the time) killed an 8 year old Michael Busby with a lethal
dose of insulin. He also beat the young boy and cut him. I was acquainted with
both of these boys and it was a shock to the whole town. In one of the articles
they described Ryan Alexander’s bedroom having pictures of nude children and
books on how to kill with needles. He was obviously a disturbed child. He used
to walk around in all black with a trench coat on, never a smile on his face,
he was a creepy guy. He was also on a probationary period for other crimes he
had committed. There were obviously multiple issues at play here, I think he
did deserved to be charged as an adult due to all the circumstances and the premeditated
nature. He received a life sentence for his crime. I’m not sure how I feel
about a life sentence for a 16 year old.
I guess if I had
unlimited research for this subject I would like to see a system be put into
place for determining to try teens as adults. I’d also like to know how a teen
could change developmentally after serving a long sentence. Could they be rehabilitated?
I agree with all you said in this situation and there should be a system put into place for determining teens tried as adults. I don't recall the story you just mentioned but I am going to look it up. Did he have a past record? I also had a family i knew growing up here. We lived in Sudden Valley. Two boys I believe they were 16 Ryan and Morgan shot and killed Ryan's older sister as she came home and confronted them while they were stealing stuff from the parents and were high on drugs. Neither of them had a past record I believe and were sent away to a place in Centrailia until 21. I think there are so many things to look at and that need to be considered in these situations.
ReplyDeleteHe did have a past record for other crimes, theft I think, and arson. He was on home monitoring at the time he committed the crime.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you about a system being put in place for teens being tried as adults. Reading the story you told about Ryan seems like they made a good decision based on factors leading up to the murder, the premeditation. Although, I don't know how I feel about giving a 16 year old a life sentence either. Like we have learned in previous chapters a teenage brain is not fully developed and cannot make adult decisions. Depending how his home life was there could have been other factors involved where he could not control himself. I think being put away at 16 years old and serving a life sentence would make it very very hard to be rehabilitated. Although, with hard work , I'm sure it could be accomplished.
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