Resolved: In the United States, juveniles charged with violent felonies ought to be treated as adult

Affirmative "He who does not punish evil commands it to be done" It is because I agree with the words of Leonardo da Vinci that I stand Resolved: In the United States, juveniles charged with violent felonies ought to be treated as adults in the criminal justice system. Before we begin I would like to offer the following definitions: (The Free Dictionary.com) Juvenile – a young person, usually under the age of eighteen Violent – acting with or marked by or resulting form great force or energy or emotional intensity Felony - a serious crime (such as arson or murder) Criminal Justice System – a generic term for the procedure by which criminal conduct is investigated, arrests made, evidence gathered, charges brought, defenses raised, trials conducted, sentences rendered, and punishment carried out. The highest value of today's round is that of Justice which is defined as giving each their due. This is the most important value within the round, because the resolution bases itself in the US legal system, the primary purpose of which is to deliver justice. Thus, Justice is the most appropriate value to use. The criterion for the round is Government Legitimacy. Government legitimacy is the best measure for Justice because the Justice systems ability to render Justice is determined by the legitimacy of the system. Without legitimacy, the Justice system loses its ability to carry out verdicts and the law loses any meaning. It is widely acknowledged by contemporary scholars that a legitimate theory of Justice requires both deontological and utilitarian aspects. A purely deontological theory is reduced to the doctrine of an eye for an eye and resembles vengeance more than Justice while a purely utilitarian theory that cares only for deterrence leaves consideration of guilt or innocence largely irrelevant, since an innocent person can still be made an example of. For a government to uphold its legitimacy and thus its ability to render Justice, both deontological concerns of giving each their due and utilitarian concerns of what consequences will occur must be considered. I intend to show that treating juveniles who have committed violent felonies as adult in the criminal justice system is upheld by both deontological and utilitarian standards. Contention 1 : Trying juveniles as adults is justified deontologicaly Sub Point A: Maturity ought to determine culpability, not numerical age. While it is true that juveniles as a group are less mature, brain development rates and thus, level of maturity varies greatly from individual to individual. According Dr. Moin, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Alberta, "Simply because the average youth is less mature than the average adult does not mean that the particular juvenile who commits a heinous crime is less culpable. There may be very mature and calculating youth and very immature and naï¿½ve adults…" Furthermore, Dr. Brian Woo of Pepperdine University Law School states that, "Rather than consider juveniles as a class in the aggregate, age alone cannot be substituted as a measure of an individual's maturity or psychological development….Rather than adopt a bright line rule, the Court should allow the jury to factor in any mitigating evidence, i.e., youth or immaturity, when determining an appropriate sentence." Thus, trying juveniles as adults allows culpability to determine the degree and severity of punishment rather than whether or not an individual committed a crime the day before or the day after their 18th birthday. Sub Point B: Punishment is expressive and sends a clear message against crime Trying juveniles as adults gives society the ability to express the moral outrage of certain acts. According to David Gelenter of Yale University, "we execute murderers in order to make a communal proclamation: that murder is intolerable. A deliberate murderer embodies evil so terrible that it defiles the community. Thus the late social philosopher Robert Nisbet: "Until a catharsis has been effected through trial, through the finding of guilt and then punishment, the community is anxious, fearful, apprehensive, and above all, contaminated." Individual citizens have a right and sometimes a duty to speak. A community has the right, too, and sometimes the duty. The community certifies births and deaths, creates marriages, educates children, fights invaders. In laws, deeds, and ceremonies it lays down the boundary lines of civilized life, lines that are conï¿½stantly getting scuffed and needing renewal." Thus, trying juveniles as adults allows society to express a simple message – certain acts are simply intolerable. Contention 2 : Trying Juveniles as adults is justified from a utilitarian perspective. Sub Point A: Trying Juveniles as adults reduces crime. It is a simple law of economics that by increasing the cost of certain activities, individuals are less likely to engage in those activities. Dr. Moin states that in a study by Dr Levitt " there was a statistically significant negative relationship between crime rates of juvenile offenders and length of sentencing." Dr. Moin goes on to state that " What these studies show is that juveniles do respond to arrest rates and punishment, especially for violent crimes, and that they respond at least as much to punishment as adults do." Thus, trying juveniles as adults reduces crime by deterring others and preventing those susceptible to crime from having the ability to do so. Sub Point B: Juveniles are more likely to be raped in the Juvenile Justice System Rather than protecting juvenile offenders, the juvenile justice system endangers them far greater than the adult system. According to David Kaiser "Across the country, 12.1% of kids questioned in the Bureau of Justice Statistics survey said that they'd been sexually abused at their current facility during the preceding year. That's nearly one in eight. In total, according to the most recent data, there are nearly 93,000 kids in juvenile detention on any given day… we can say confidently that the BJS's 3,220 figure represents only a small fraction of the children sexually abused in detention every year." The reason for this epidemic is clear. According to David Kaiser, " Adults who want to have sex with children sometimes look for jobs that will make it easy. They want authority over kids, but no onerous supervision; they also want positions that will make them seem more trustworthy than their potential accusers." In a sense, juvenile detention facilities are like flashing neon lights for potential pedophiles. This is by no means rehabilitative. In summary, trying juveniles as adults is justified by both deontological and utilitarian views of justice by ensuring culpability is the standard of punishment all the while deterring crime and protecting juveniles from abuse.