Juvenile vs Adult Courts, Essay Example

Juvenile courts are meant for offenders aged 18years and below depending on the severity of the crime committed. In juvenile courts youth offenders are considered developmentally different from adult counterpart offenders and the major role of the juvenile courts is to rehabilitate, treat possibilities, as well as protect the community and the youth offender. In juvenile courts bail is not allowed for minors and they have to undergo detention hearing unlike adult courts where bail hearing is allowed.

In juvenile court case the court is usually closed from the general public including the media where as in adult courts the general public and media is allowed to hear the proceedings. For smaller offences, juvenile courts hold in custody the minors for quite long than adult courts hold adults. Juniors’ probation periods tend to be long, numerous, and obnoxious unlike adults. Minors who are found delinquent by juvenile courts after committing serious offences and are incarcerated are better off since their sentences typically ends at their earlier twenties where as adult who are found guilty by adult courts because of committing serious crimes like rape and murder are imprisoned for life (Spohn, 2000).

Some times minors (between 12-18 years) are tried in adult courts in serious cases involving rape or murder. They are tried as adults because by so doing they would be convicted by a record that will follow them for the rest of their life. The main aim of adult sentencing is deterrence and it is meant to deter the criminal from re-offending and also deter others from offending because of the punishment. Most importantly, convicting a minor just like an adult and parole him/her make it possible to monitor the individual possibility of indulging in illicit behaviors in future (Spohn, 2000).

According to the department of justice (1998) almost more than half of youth offenders below 18 years were being remanded to adult courts for trial but recently the numbers have declined simply because more youths are now tried directly in adult courts without passing through juvenile courts system first.

Reference

Spohn, C. C. (2000). “Thirty Years of Sentencing Reform: The Quest for a Racially Neutral Sentencing Process.” Criminal Justice 2000, Vol. 3.