A Chart that Illustrates the Criminal Justice System
Differences between the steps in the Juvenile and the Adult criminal justice systems
There are differences that exist between the juvenile and the adult court systems in the US. One such difference touches on the topic of legal proceedings. In the adult criminal justice system, the reason for accusing an adult is on the grounds of a crime and in such a case, the proceedings are referred to as trials. The reason for charging a juvenile is on the grounds of the youth having indulged in a delinquent act and such a case; the proceedings are referred to as adjudication hearings. The second difference addresses the topic of the outcome or the aim of the case wherein the adult criminal justice system; the goal is to punish the individual found guilty. Under the juvenile court system, the objective is to rehabilitate the delinquent youth (FindLaw, 2013).
Three most important US Supreme Court cases that changed the juvenile justice system
There are those cases that were noted to have revolutionized the criminal justice system for youths who engage in crime. The first case was the Ropper against the Simmons case back in 2005 where Simmons, at the age of seventeen years old, not only planned but executed capital murder. At the age of eighteen, he was sentenced to capital punishment. The ruling was reversed when the Supreme Court made a decision that it was, in fact, unconstitutional to sentence a youth to a capital punishment when at the time of the delinquent act, the youth was still a minor (PBS Premiere, 2014). The other case was the 2010 case of Graham against Florida. In this case, Graham, at the age of sixteen committed both an arm burglary plus another crime. The youth was sentenced to life having committed other multiple crimes during parole and was without parole. The Supreme Court, however, made the ruling that sentencing a juvenile to life without parole for a crime that is not a homicidal crime was, in fact, a violation of the Eighth Amendment (PBS Premiere, 2014). The third case was the Miller against the Alabama case. In this case, Miller was sentenced to life incarceration without the possibility of parole because of a murder conviction case. The Supreme Court, however, made the ruling that it was, in fact, illegal to sentence a juvenile to a mandatory life incarceration in the absence of parole (PBS Premiere, 2014).
References
FindLaw. (2013). How do Juvenile Proceedings Differ from Adult Criminal Proceedings? Retrieved 28/08/2016 from http://files.findlaw.com/pdf/criminal/criminal.findlaw.com_juvenile-justice_how-do-juvenile-proceedings-differ-from-adult-criminal-proceeding.pdf
PBS Premiere. (2014). Three Supreme Court Cases That Have Shaped Juvenile Justice. Retrieved 28/08/2016 from http://www.pbs.org/pov/15tolife/supreme-court-cases/
