Should minors be tried as adults?
I believe that minors should not be tried as adults, instead, the criminal justice system should change its punishments for serious crimes committed by minors. The reason for this became very clear to me during the Lionel Tate case when he was being tried as an adult, but he was not allowed to decide whether or not to take the plea bargain. I think it was very ironic that the court believed that Lionel was mature and "old" enough to be potentially put in prison for the rest of his life, but not old enough to be a part of the decision for the plea deal.
I understand why they wanted to try him as an adult since the autopsy revealed such a big number of blunt force traumas to Tiffany's body, meaning that the person who caused them must have been aware of what they were doing. The amount of trauma caused to Tiffany was not accidental and therefore was violent enough to have a life sentence as the punishment. If Lionel was tried in juvenile court and found guilty, he would be sentenced to about 6-8 months compared to life in prison as an adult, in adult prison. I agree that a sentence less than a year is way too little for murdering someone but I think one needs to keep in mind that it may have been accidental. Either way, Lionel should have been put in prison, but for a few years, and in juvenile prison. Lionel was only twelve years old at the time of the trial and going to adult prison at that time could not have any good results. In a juvenile center, he could be punished but not be scarred for the rest of his life. Overall, I think life in prison is way too intense for someone who is just twelve years old.
In conclusion, I do not think that minors should be tried as adults because the punishments are too harsh and instead, one should increase the punishment length in juvenile prison. I think the justice system in Florida should learn from Lionel's case and adjust their sentencing laws accordingly in order to prepare for extreme cases like his.
I understand why they wanted to try him as an adult since the autopsy revealed such a big number of blunt force traumas to Tiffany's body, meaning that the person who caused them must have been aware of what they were doing. The amount of trauma caused to Tiffany was not accidental and therefore was violent enough to have a life sentence as the punishment. If Lionel was tried in juvenile court and found guilty, he would be sentenced to about 6-8 months compared to life in prison as an adult, in adult prison. I agree that a sentence less than a year is way too little for murdering someone but I think one needs to keep in mind that it may have been accidental. Either way, Lionel should have been put in prison, but for a few years, and in juvenile prison. Lionel was only twelve years old at the time of the trial and going to adult prison at that time could not have any good results. In a juvenile center, he could be punished but not be scarred for the rest of his life. Overall, I think life in prison is way too intense for someone who is just twelve years old.
In conclusion, I do not think that minors should be tried as adults because the punishments are too harsh and instead, one should increase the punishment length in juvenile prison. I think the justice system in Florida should learn from Lionel's case and adjust their sentencing laws accordingly in order to prepare for extreme cases like his.
I agree with your perspective on the Lionel Tate case. I think that putting him in a juvenile detention center for a shorter amount of time would also benefit him more. Ultimately the goal should be in reforming people not in just keeping them in a prison, I think putting him in a detention/reform center would far more benefit him.
ReplyDeleteI feel like there are so many cases if not all that involve serious crimes committed by a juvenile that connect exactly what you talked about Lisa. These crimes are serious and deserve larger punishments that just a couple of months in juvi. However they should not be put in a prison where they would be in an environment full of extremely hard criminals, and would lose their life in a crime that they did in their developmental years and could potentially learn from and still be able to function properly in society. Therefore there is no current middle ground in the options for punishment for these minors. Either they get a heavy sentence that ends their life or they get a light sentence that isnt enough for the seriousness of a crime. They should get a heavier sentence in juvenile just like you said. Nice post Lisa!
ReplyDeleteIn Lionel's case I feel like a justification for being tried as an adult would be if he had used a weapon to intentionally cause bodily harm to his cousin Tiffany. But, the fact that they were "Rough housing" , as children it is a common thing to do, and often times they do not know when to stop and half of the time don't even realize when they are hurt. So, to be placed in a juvenile detention center it would be ideal to teach him lessons about harming other people and how far it could get, and informing him that what he did was wrong, as he took the life of an innocent child. As to whether he had done this purposely or not I would personally need more supporting evidence.
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