In the United States 2 million kids are arrested each year and are sent to juvenile detention. In the cases of four juvenile offenders, Shawn, José, Manny and Marquese, are people who participated in illegal activity. Who are all under the age of 18, they were sentenced to serve in either adult court or stay in juvenile court. Juvenile court sentencing is less harsh and usually gives a lesser punishment and allows a chance for juveniles to still be a productive member of society when released with a goal of rehabilitation. However, if sent to adult court a juvenile can face much larger sentencing and possibly prison time depending on the severity of the crime, and they are more likely to reoffend when released.
On Christmas night of 1998, Shawn attacked his sleeping father, stabbing him repeatedly in the arms, head, and neck, with a knife. His relationship with his father was never violent. Shawn claims that he has no memory of the attack, Shawn did not even realize what had happened. The night of the attack Shawn was smoking marijuana and had a history of substance abuse the past months that could have affected his right state of mind. He also had a unstable family life with Shawn’s mother having a drinking problem and his father leaving frequently on business trips. Shawn had a prior offense before this incident, he and his friend were charged with strong-arm robbery when they stole money from a smaller more defenseless boy. Shawn’s lawyer believed that Shawn had been sleepwalking the night of the attack showing how he did not intend to hurt his father. Shawn’s attorney brought in a sleep research expert and explained how sleepwalking was a possible explanation for his behavior however the expert presented by the prosecution disagreed, saying sleepwalking was not a likely explanation for this behavior. The judge postponed the determination of his sentence and sent him for a 90-day evaluation at the California Youth Authority. While there he was approached by a gang member who pressured him to violate his cellmate who was highly disliked In the prison. Shawn complied in fear of his own safety. The Judge ruled Shawn would remain in juvenile hall until Shawn turns 19, and that he would be allowed to leave during the day to attend college classes, counseling sessions, and even go home for meals with his family. Shawn should have gotten a much harsher sentence and not had been allowed outside the facility because he was a treat to society. Shawn could have been helped if his substance abuse problems were confronted at an earlier time, which could have prevented this whole incident.
Fall of 1998 Jose, who was a local gang member, was involved in a deadly fight between him and two other teenagers, two of them recent immigrants they were hanging out in an alley and drinking and talking then this escalated into a serious fight. One of the immigrant’s skull had been crushed and the other had scaled a fence and broke his ankle. While fleeing the scene José and his friend found the victim who had broken his ankle struggling to walk with a broken ankle and he and his friend helped the victim home. Jose was arrested and charged with murder, it was revealed José did not play a major part in the attack. José was offered a plea deal if moved to adult court, that he would plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and would be sent to California Youth Authority for a evaluation that showed he was not a threat to society as long as he was sober. Jose was sentenced to 208 days in the California Youth Authority working hard at school and favored by the staff. Jose was released from juvenile hall at 17 and enrolled in community college. This is an acceptable sentence for Jose, he served 208 days in juvenile hall and when he got released he tried to be a beneficial member for society. Jose would have benefitted from having more authority figures in his life, in juvenile hall he had authority figures such as his teacher and Jose started to work harder if José was left alone he would not try to work hard at school or have any sort of discipline.
In the fall of 1999 Manny and two other gang members attacked a family, 4 people were hurt including one woman who was 6 months pregnant and was hit in the stomach repeatedly with a baseball bat. Manny is 17 and is part of the Norteño gang, many grew up with no father and started fighting young. Prior to the incident Manny had another felony charge when he was 14, where he plead guilty to rape. To consider a juvenile fit for juvenile, court a .criteria must be considered. The judge found many fit on the first 4 criteria. However, Manny was guilty to the fifth criteria which is the seriousness of the crime, which means Manny was to be sent to adult court and if he reoffends he can be sentenced to life in prison. This sentence is acceptable Manny does not seem at all remorseful and does not plan on living past his 50s. Manny could have been helped by having a tighter watch by the police in gang violence, Manny’s Attack was because he wanted respect in his gang, and he needed better peers around him to not pressure him to need the respect he craves.
Marquese is 17, and has seven felony theft convictions and two burglary convictions all in the juvenile court system. Marquese is two months away from being 18 and he was most recently charged with auto theft and residential burglary. Marquese is described as a career criminal who continues to break the law. Marquese does well in an institutional setting and does not cause trouble and does all his work, however he goes back to stealing when released. Marquese did not have a stable family life. Marquise’s mother has substance abuse problems including heroin and crack cocaine and taught Marquese to steal at a young age. marquese’s fitness hearing was one of the longest hearing there had been in a while. The judge eventually ruled that Marquese was still fit for treatment in the juvenile system. This sentence is acceptable in marqueses case he had no problems when exposed to good authority figures and does good in an institutional setting just being around his mother is not a good role model for him to follow and he should not be punished because of that. Marquese also could have been helped by being removed from his home earlier, his house was not a safe environment for him to be in as a kid. The state should have removed marquese and his siblings from the custody of his mother.
In the cases of Shawn, Jose, Manny, and Marquese juveniles all under 18 committed serious offenses and obtained different sentencing. Shawn, Jose and Manny all committed violent crimes all including murder. Marquese is a frequent flyer in the juvenile system committing over 7 felony charges. The judges all gave a reasonable sentence to the juveniles which fits the severity of the crime at their age.