Kent vs. the US

Referencing what you have learned about juvenile waiver from both the text and from your reading of
Kent v US, what are the presumed benefits and problems of transferring youths from the juvenile justice
system to the adult system? Take a stance for or against the use of waiving juvenile offenders into the
adult system. Justify your stance with factual information.

Kent vs. the US

A waiver of transfer of an uninvolved juvenile to a the criminal justice system could have severe consequences for the child. While there are positive results, the negative effects on children are far greater than the positive ones. The scenarios where a juvenile offender is tried as an adult must be reserved for the most extreme instances. A greater risk of harm than gain comes from arbitrary prosecution and imprisonment of youngsters in adult prisons. Children are entitled to absolute protection afforded by the law as part of the justice system. The possibility of a trial with a jury is one benefit of transferring teens into an adult court system. Jurors may feel more compassion for them due to the fact that the minors are in their twenties (Springer Roberts and Springer (2011)). Furthermore, a court might impose a lower sentence or alternative punishment to the juvenile offender in order to lessen the burden on already the already overcrowded adult correctional facilities. However, if the juvenile is referred before an adult judge, they could receive a more severe sentence in an adult prison or jail. Juvenile courts must behave in parens patriae and follow the rules that are in the best interest of the child in terms of rehabilitation therapy, punishment or therapy (Paulsen 1966). Therefore the rehabilitation and therapy options available in the juvenile courts aren’t available for adult court. The process of removing a juvenile’s records from the adult court records can be more difficult after the case is settled. Additionally, sending juvenile offenders to adult prisons raises the possibility that they could be exploited.