Death Penalty for Juveniles
Juvenile Justice CJC 113
April 30, 2010
Tynesha L. Johnson
Abstract
This paper will discuss the history of the death penalty as it pertains to juveniles and the negative aspects of applying the death penalty to juveniles. I will discuss viable alternatives to the death penalty and how these alternatives will positively affect society. In this paper you will learn about the characteristics of a violent juvenile offender and how their gender, social status and environment they live in may be mitigating factors as to why they have a violent temper. As well as the breakdown of the race and age as it may pertain to the characteristic of violence. This paper will discuss how the certainty of punishment, severity of punishment, and increase in police affect violent juvenile crime. This paper will also explore the various case laws that led to the application and changes of the death penalty involving juveniles.
The juvenile justice system was established in 1899 in Chicago Illinois in response to the harsh treatment of juveniles in the criminal justice system (Cothern, 2000). It was believed that a juvenile justice system would hold a juvenile responsible for his or her crime at the same time providing rehabilitative treatment and counseling, this alternative would hopefully stop the juvenile from committing another crime. This juvenile justice system protected juveniles from receiving the same punishment as adult offenders. Before the implementation of the juvenile justice system juvenile offenders was tried and punished as adults. The first recorded death of a juvenile was in 1642, Thomas Graunger who was put to death for bestiality (Cothern, 2000). Bestiality is having sexual relations with an animal; some may think that a person in their right mind would never do something of this nature. Well how about a juvenile who may not understand the severity of their actions which is an argument of many who are against death penalty...