Being threatened and assaulted by other inmates also drives juveniles to commit suicide. In theory, youth should not be treated in the criminal justice system in the same manner as adults. Juveniles should be placed in a setting that will establish positive relationships that influence the healthy development of young offenders. .
Juvenile offenders should not be tried as adults because when given the death penalty they endure societal alienation. More juveniles are executed in the U.S. than any other country (Hoge 60). Seventeen states have set the minimum age for execution ranging from twelve to seventeen years at the time of crime, while seven others have no minimum age limit (Hoge 60). According to Robert Hoge, author of Assessing the Youthful .
Riddlespriger 3.
Offender, only fourteen of the thirty-eight U.S. states which permit execution, prohibit imposition of the death penalty on juvenile offenders (Hoge 60). The United States continues to execute juveniles to this day. The most recent was that of Gerald Mitchell on October 22, 2001 in Texas for murder. The U.S. and Somalia are still the only countries that will execute persons below the age of eighteen. The United States judicial system needs to recognize the statistics and that there is no reason for the death penalty to be imposed on a child. Giving a troubled youth the death penalty only sends the message that the child has been receiving his or her entire life "you are worthless and we are going to do away with you indefinitely". The death penalty does not deter potential offenders who lack maturity. Execution of minors in retribution for their crimes violates basic humanitarian rights.
Juvenile offenders should not be tried as adults because they possibly reoffend the law. Juvenile crime reached its peak in 1994, and despite public perceptions, it has dropped to its lowest level since 1987 (Snyder 85). Actually, if a serious juvenile crime goes down, the public perception is that it has gone up.