Juveniles in Adult Court - 2 Teens at Center of Juvenile Crime Debate by Bryan Robinson

Midterm – Article

Juveniles in Adult Court - 2 Teens At Center Of Juvenile Crime Debate by Bryan Robinson

Summary:

        Lionel Tate was fourteen when he when he was tried as an adult for a crime committed when he was twelve. He was convicted to life in prison without parole for a wrestling match that had a fatal ending. The article focuses on the crime of Lionel Tate to pinpoint whether it should be okay to commit him as an adult or a juvenile. Advocates for California’s Proposition 21 and laws similar believe that, “No law will completely eradicate crime,” and it was just a way of making sure juveniles know to not commit those crimes, and to punish those who do commit these violent acts– it’s meant to focus on more violent offenders.

        Charles “Andy” Williams was fifteen when was convicted to first degree murder in March 2001 for the Santana High School shooting. The second half of the article says that there were some outside factors that should have been considered before committing Williams as an adult.  He explains that there was a lot of intense and hurtful teasing going on prior to Williams’ horrendous act.

        Both Tate and Williams should be punished, but the environment and other personal factors should have been considered before they had been placed into an adult facility.

Analysis:

This article focuses on the laws set in place that allow juveniles to be tried and committed as adults. Two court cases are brought into the argument for the idea that children shouldn’t be tried as adults. I believe that Bryan Robinson (the author) was hinting at the fact that he supports the ideas to reform the act of committing juveniles into adult court or prisons. I think in Williams case; the author tries to compare his situation to those of the idea of William Healy from the textbook. “Mental conflicts that originate in unsatisfactory family relationships” (Bartollas 56). Although it wasn’t family relationships it was more of the people around him making fun of him for the things he cannot control. The text also points out a point of differential association theory, he makes a point that youths that are placed in prison are going to return to society more likely to turn to crime rather than being placed in a rehabilitation program. “criminals and youthful offenders learn crime from others” (Bartollas 60). This article was meant to inform people of the fact that there are things like this going on everywhere and to persuade them to feel something toward those juveniles whom fall into the adult system.

The article does a good job at showing the factual information while slightly showing the author’s feelings about the topic, he helps the reader develop their own opinion on the matter also because he also presents the opposing views ideas. It would seem the opposing side would affect the way the police handle responses to juvenile calls with sociocultural factors, but more specifically the citizen complainants. “A number of studies have found that… wishes the arrest of the juvenile… will be arrested and processed” (Bartollas 96). With the formal processing of the juveniles, it would make sense that they would begin to be treated differently once in the system. I personally believe that juveniles should be handled informally and given a lot of informal programs like community and school interventions to deter them from doing major crime.