The sentencing of youths after trials to adult prison has continued in the United States for quite some time now with an estimated 250, 000 youths being incarcerated as adults and hence landing into Adult prison annually. This has been attributed to the changes in laws across forty-nine American states in the ‘90s that increase the number of youths being given adult trials. However, CDC (Center for Disease and Control) and the US Department of Justice stated in 2008 that sending minors to a criminal justice system that is specifically designed to handle adults does not reduce or protect the community against any criminal acts committed by the youth (Neubauer & Fradella, 2016). In fact, contrary to the intentions of the courts, moving the youth from a juvenile to an adult justice system increases the likelihood if such youth’s repeating the offenses which might have landed them in jail. Studies have also claimed that almost 36 likely to commit suicide and are more at risked. It is, therefore, true that sending juveniles to adult prisons is inappropriate and laws which allow such forms of correction should be reviewed.
As reported by the Equal Justice Initiative, several children have undergone trials as adults and have been sentenced to serve their terms in adult prison, such harsh and punitive sentences are even made without considering the age of these children and the facts surrounding their cases. The organization reports that some of the children that find themselves under such cruel sentences are as young as 13 years of age (Neubauer & Fradella, 2016). Nationwide statistics show a worrying figure of three thousand youths below the age of majority being sentenced to life imprisonment, not even enjoying the possibility of receiving presidential parole. However, the interventions of Equal Justice Initiative have seen the Supreme Court of the United States ban death-in-prison sentences. Instances, where a child is convicted of crimes not involving homicides and the giving of mandatory death-in-prison sentences, have also been banned under such interventions. However, this does not mean that trial of youths who are still under the minority age is a thing of the past in the US. The interventions of EJI have just achieved so little that juveniles still sent to adult prison by American courts are still very high, and laws that favor such sentences are still entranced into our local state legislations (Neubauer & Fradella, 2016).
A little investigation into the state of living of many American children shows that several children live under harsh economic conditions, and they experience family violence, poverty, neglect by their families and their society in general and depression. Growing up in such conditions, effective interventions suffice to who struggle and suffer and ultimately become desperate and lose hope in life. With a majority of the youth not being in a position to soberly deal with the psychological, social and emotional challenges that come from within their environment, they are bound to lose it and become violent hence committing some criminal acts (Murrie et al. 2015). However, many states have buried their heads in the sand and have ignored the fundamental problems that should be addressed; instead, the States have withheld laws that have ensured such minors find themselves in adult prison where they are further victimized and abused.
Looking at the justice system in the United States, fourteen states have no set minimum age setting the limit children to be tried as adults. Some states have set this minimum age limit to as low as 13 white (McGowan et al. 2007). According to EJI, prosecuting any child below the age of 14 is unjust and should not happen in a properly functioning judicial system like the US one. A different juvenile justice organization NJJN (National Juvenile Justice Network), however, recommends that any youth below the age of 18 should be tried through Juvenile courts and sentences given to them there (McGowan et al. 2007). A report by EJI shows a disturbing figure of 10,000 being the number of children under adult prison each passing day in America. In such facilities, the susceptibility of such children being sexually abused by adult prison mates is five times as compared to if they were in juvenile prison white (McGowan et al. 2007).
Even though the sentencing of minors to adult prison is generally a worrying trend in the United States; more to worry about is the fact that more blacks are likely to be issued with such sentences than their white counterparts. A 2007 study indicated that in one year, black youths were committed to adult prison ten times as many as kids who were white (McGowan et al. 2007). For example, Chicago alone recorded cases of 275 children being prosecuted and sentenced to jail, only one of these was a white. More amazing is the fact that a sample from a nationwide survey indicated that in 2013, about 50% of cases that saw youths sent to adult courts from the juvenile courts involved drug dealings and abuse, property crime and public order crimes (Neubauer & Fradella, 2016).
Adult Prisons Unsuitable for children
Although there have been directions from the Federal government for states to review their laws and make changes to avoid sending juveniles to adult prisons, there has been some inertia from the state governments concerning this, and many of them have reserved the rights to impose adult punishment on juveniles. Massachusetts State, for example, has laws stating that juveniles of 14 years and above accused of murder shall be tried as adults and hence, sent to adult prisons when found guilty (McGowan et al. 2007). The first problem that sending juveniles to adult prison creates is that it denies such children the opportunity to further their education. In adult prisons, the prisons are designed to accommodate adults. Even if they provide any forms of training, they do not provide training that offers basic education necessary for teens to develop and grow. Juvenile facilities designed to absorb such children have adequate facilities to ensure that they pursue their education. This ensures that such youths can remain engaged in learning and hence are transformed, as such juvenile prisons serve their purpose of rehabilitating and transforming juveniles. However, adult prisons do not offer an opportunity for such youths to grow and learn. Instead, they are housed together with hardcore criminals and life sentence inmates who cannot help them reform. The company that such youths get in adult prison cannot help them reform at all end may just end up not changing them for the better.
The State of Alabama has laws that allow for even children as young as 14 years to be convicted, tried in adult courts and sent to Adult prison. Research has shown that children who find themselves tried and sentenced to jail under adult criminal justice system are thirty-four percent likely to face arrest again then those children tried and sentenced under the juvenile justice system (McGowan et al. 2007). This means that those sent to adult jails do not come out as changed people. If this is the case, then the whole essence of sending a juvenile to jail to go and reform is lost course. If a prisoner can be sent to prison only to spend several years and return to their criminal ways, then it’s an exercise in futility. Those who are sent to juvenile prisons interact with their peers (Briddell, 2006) and hence are influenced by the right group of people. Furthermore, adult prisons have negative influence on the youth.
It is, therefore, necessary for the government to rethink the purpose of a jail term so that we clearly define the fundamentals of keeping someone I prison. If the system is such that the objectives of imprisonment cannot be achieved, then it is useless to spend millions of dollars under the disguise that America is keeping prisoners in jail to help them become better people in the society; only for them to come back to the society after imprisonment and commit the same crime they had been imprisoned for (Puzzanchera, 2010). Since research has shown that juveniles sent to juvenile prisons are less likely to go back to the society and commit the same offenses which they were jailed for, this points to the right direction. To reduce the rate of crime committed by the youth, some of which are committed by prisoners held in adult prisons, the government must change its policy on sending juveniles to adult prisons through the adult criminal justice system. The change of strategy to this should be to build more juvenile prisons to accommodate youths. The federal government should also ensure that all states comply with the requirement to amend their laws to increase the age limit of sending children to juvenile courts (Puzzanchera, 2010).
Confinement in adult prisons affect the youth emotionally and psychologically. This is illustrated by the case of Thomas whose story was documented in the documentary “Stickup kids.” Thomas Alonza found himself in an adults’ facility at the age of 13. He, however, was released after a reduction of his sentence owing to the fat that he pleaded guilty to the crime he committed, armed robbery. But the journey of Thomas while in jail shows a psychologically disturbed child. While in jail, he spent most of his time in solitude and in mental health treatment facilities (Ng et al. 2011). Even today after being released and is out of that environment, his social life is affected. Thomas still under medication psychosis, depression and anxiety to help him live with the psychological problems he developed from his sentencing and stay in an adult prison.
This example of Thomas illustrates that the environment and social lives of the adults in adult facilities do not favor the youths. It affects them mentally and emotionally. For example, it is very common for a juvenile who committed a non-violent crime like dealing in drug, to be disturbed psychologically when they witness people being stabbed with blunt objects in jail. Such scenes are very common in adult prison. This may ultimately lead to such young children developing mental problems that may even be worse to the society than the crimes they commit. Youths should, therefore, be sent to juvenile prisons where they meet people of the same mental level, psychological level, and emotional level (Ng et al. 2011). It is very easy for people of the same age group to stay together and enjoy each other’s company even if on situations of imprisonment. Through this, they are able to positively transform since they find it easy to socialize and interact with their peers (Briddell, 2006). If this was done, the rate of crime amongst those juveniles who have returned to the society would reduce and ultimately a reduction in the overall rate of crime will be realized.
The trial of juveniles through adult criminal justice system sometimes lands juvenile unfair judgment hence reducing people’s faith in the judiciary’s ability to ensure justice prevails. For example, statistics show that in 2013, 50% of cases that involved the transfer of juveniles to face trials in the adult criminal justice system were cases of public order crimes and drug abuse but not a serious crime that involved violent and murder (Neubauer & Fradella, 2016). This shows that sometimes, sending juveniles to adult criminal justice system may lead to unfair hearing and sentences. Just like in the documentary film “cash for kids.” Michael Conahan and Ciavarella are guilty of a criminal offense (Kids for Cash, 2014). They received a bribe and in exchange, sent several juveniles to detention centers. Looking at the magnitude of such crimes, though, they do not deserve severe punishment like sending the kids to detention facilities as some merely involved children stealing some CDs from Walmart stores (Kids for Cash, 2014).
It’s also evident from the movie that adult criminal justice systems have shown zero-tolerance policy to crime. Hence, the system is used to handling hard criminals and giving harsh sentences. The result of such zero tolerance, as portrayed in the movie, is that it makes the children develop some negative attitude towards authority. As the children in “cash for kids” are sent to jail and then released back to the society, not much has changed of them. They would do the tiniest of things and find themselves in prison again and back to imprisonment; they would still learn bad habits like doing drugs and making bombs. The movie generally summarizes some of the negative impacts that come as a result of the youth and children below the age of majority being subjected to the adult criminal justice system and ultimately ending up in adult prisons. The whole essence of correcting the behaviors of such children is lost, and any effort to make them reform and become better members of the society is just a futile exercise. To the contrary, imprisonment of children in adult facilities leads to creating more hardcore criminals who reoffend and are sent back to imprisonment for the same criminal acts that sent them to jail in the initial place. This movie also shows the plight of the whole society as children are sent to jail, parents feel they have failed in their responsibilities (Kids for Cash, 2014).
The main aim of a correction facility, as prison are meant to be, is to help criminals transform and become better members of the society. However, this has been an uphill task in America since the justice system has allowed the trial and sentencing of juveniles in the adult criminal justice system. From the above discussion, such a system has only made the situation worse owing to the negative consequences that sending of juveniles to adult prisons produce.
The Federal government should, therefore, ensure that more juvenile prisons are built to ensure that children are sent to juvenile prisons and not adult facilities. Of most importance is a review of laws to ensure that all states in the US adjust their laws and hence not allow trial of those falling under the age of the minority in adult courts (Puzzanchera, 2010). It is these old laws that have led to the sentencing of more youths to adult facilities. However, in attempts to correct juveniles, it is also necessary for the judges to always consider the nature of the crime committed and the age of the juveniles. Taking an example from the documentary cash for kids, the most important lesson we learn is that the adult judicial system did not give sentences commensurate to the crime committed by the children (Kids for Cash, 2014). This is also experienced in today’s American society after it was reported that 50% of juveniles sent to adult facilities committed petty crimes like disobedience to public orders (Neubauer & Fradella, 2016). Such petty crimes should not land a youth to a detention facility.
The judicial system in America has to look into the issue of sending juveniles to prison from a wider position than just correcting the mistake of sending them to adult prisons. It is also important to look at the impact of a decision to send certain juveniles of certain ages to prison, in all fairness, sometimes it is only necessary to hold such children under probation (Puzzanchera, 2010).
References
Ng, I. Y., Shen, X., Sim, H., Sarri, R. C., Stoffregen, E., & Shook, J. J. (2011). Incarcerating juveniles in adult prisons as a factor in depression. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 21(1), 21-34.
Stream Kids for Cash (2014) in HD Now. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://putlocker.is/hdvideo/hdstream.php?movie=Kids for Cash (2014)
Briddell, L. O. N. (2006). Peer effects in juvenile justice. Deviant peer influences in programs for youth: Problems and solutions, 141-161..
McGowan, A., Hahn, R., Liberman, A., Crosby, A., Fullilove, M., Johnson, R., & Lowy, J. (2007). Effects on violence of laws and policies facilitating the transfer of juveniles from the juvenile justice system to the adult justice system: a systematic review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 32(4), 7-28.
Puzzanchera, C. (2010). Juvenile Arrests (2007). DIANE Publishing.
Murrie, D. C., Henderson, C. E., Vincent, G. M., Rockett, J. L., & Mundt, C. (2015). Psychiatric symptoms among juveniles incarcerated in adult prison. Psychiatric services.
Neubauer, D., & Fradella, H. (2016). America’s courts and the criminal justice system. Cengage Learning.
