This 3 page paper provides an overview of a problem statement that can be used in a mixed methodology study of views of prosecutors regarding the trying of children as adults. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: MH11_MHJuveCrime.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
The following is a problem statement, but more direct language is provided in order to satisfy the students request. The topic of this problem statement will not be
changed to the one presented in the students REVISION request (i.e. " addressing the issues of difficult, to reinstituted corporal punishment to an extent into the school system") because this
was never provided in the first request and cannot be provided without compensation. Statement of the Problem
Prior to 2005, juveniles convicted as adults in criminal court could face the death penalty alongside their adult counterparts. In 2005, the Supreme Court
put an end to the use of the death penalty for juvenile offenders, even if they are tried and convicted as adults (Ellis, 2005). Since that time, there has
been a steady increase in the number of juveniles (under the age of 18) sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole (Brendtro and Mitchell, 2007).
When Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote his majority opinion, he applied the eighth Amendment protection from cruel and unusual punishment to the use of
the death penalty in juvenile cases (Brendtro and Mitchell, 2007). It was Kennedys contention that some of the elements that are defined within adolescence, including a level of emotional
imbalance and potential instability, were probable causative factors that led to the commission of the crime. Further, Kennedy, his fellow joining justices, and the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child, ratified by 192 countries, recognize that the use of the death penalty in juvenile cases should be banned (Brendtro and Mitchell, 2007).