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

Heyy! For whoever accepts this debate! I just want you to know that I'm more interested in critics then actually debating. I honeslty do not care who wins this, I just want to see if anyone out there sees flaws or contradictions I don't. Also, even if you don't to critic it in the debate, please feel free to comment on whatever you think is wrong or question. Thanks Guys! "Justice has to be done and all people should be treated equally." Nicky Maxwell's quote sums up the Justice in all its character. Although justice may seem hard at times, it is something that has to be done and is why I stand in Affirmation of the resolution Resolved: In the United States, juveniles charged with violent felonies ought to be treated as adults in the criminal justice system. The Value of this round is justice because the resolution is asking us to argue which system the juveniles charged with violent felonies ought to go in order to pay their just dues to society. Justice in this round is going to focus on the best way for a juvenile to serve their just due to society and what is in the best interest for a juvenile when it comes down to which system they are charged in. I offer the following observations for the round. Observation One: To clarify , we are not talking about all juveniles or all delinquent crimes in general; we are talking about the juveniles who have committed violent felonies which is defined as or any criminal offense that involves the threat or use of violence during its commission such as a Murder or Assault crimes. My second Observation is that the Definition of Juvenile is anyone between the ages of 13 and 18. The age 13 was chosen because that is the youngest known age of a juvenile who was sentenced to life in prison without parole. - As there is no action without reaction, there shouldn't a crime without punishment afterwards. Even juveniles are subject to laws and are obliged to behave accordingly. Should they fail to do so, it would be unjust to let them - almost freely - get away with it.   Contention One: Juveniles need to be tried in Adult courts to uphold the basic forms of justice. Sub-Point A: Unjust Sentencing for juveniles encourages discrimination The most fundamental principle of justice—one that has been widely accepted since it was first defined by Aristotle more than two thousand years ago—is the principle that "equals should be treated equally and un-equals unequally." In its contemporary form, this principle is sometimes expressed as follows: "Individuals should be treated the same, unless they differ in ways that are relevant to the situation in which they are involved." Now, we can apply Aristotle's same logic to the Resolution. If we have a child of the age of 14 who has killed a man and someone the age of 20 who has killed a man, they both should be tried and sentenced in the same fashion. But in our society, we see it fit to allow the child to endure a different form a punishment simply because he is of a lower age, thus encouraging injustice and discrimination. What we must see is that murder is murder, no matter who has committed it. The only relevant differences in a case of murder or rape would be how or where the action took place not the age or gender of the offender. Because Things such as murder and assault are violent felonies, we as a society need to hold these crimes to the upmost justice because they can be some of the most gruesome crimes to take place. Having a juvenile commit these crimes should make us think of it no more or no less because age is not a primary factor in the conviction of a crime and why a juvenile should be held accountable for their actions in an adult court system, where these violent felonies are typically solved for. Sub-Point B: Juveniles are given more opportunities for justice when charged as adults. The Juvenile and Criminal justice system both differ in various ways. One way they differ is the rights at trails in the different systems. The rights of a juvenile In the Juvenile justice include the right to an attorney, speedy trail, to confront witness, to cross examine witnesses, to introduce evidence and not to testify. Although this may seem like juveniles are protected in courts with these right, it's an unfair justice to them especially dealing with violent felonies. In juvenile courts, you are denied the right to a jury trial and bail. The only person that gets to decide your case is the judge. And although evidence is allowed to be presented, there is only one person who gets to decide your case. Now let's examine a juvenile in Adult system. When a juvenile is charged or transferred over to an adult court for trial, they are automatically given the rights of an adult. They can post bail, have a public trail, and still have all the rights they did before. Also, a defense attorney will have more time to properly review their case and have a stronger case against the prosecution. They will be able to build their defense stronger because according to the rules in which a juvenile can be contained before their trial, they can only be contained for 1-3 days, while in a adult court, they are contained until it's time for their case on the calendar. Another area we can look too in the adult system is the fact that a full jury gets to decides their case, not one judge who has been working on cases all day long. This is especially important in Violent Felony cases where evidence needs to be looked upon and questioned over and over again to make sure that beyond a reasonable doubt the juvenile is guilty. Adult court systems give the juvenile a better chance at proving themselves innocent or guilty and giving them more rights to a trail, this is defiantly important in violent felony cases because of the seriousness of the crimes. These factors also give the juvenile more justice when it comes to their violent felony because the chances of them being represented better are increased. Sub-Point C: Adult charges for juveniles proves to be affective. Studies done by the Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice and Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, have approached the question of whether or not the criminal justice system is the best place for juveniles to be charged in. They approached the question from different perspectives but have come upon the same conclusion: Youth who are subjected to the more punitive adult court system showed higher rates of recidivism and reoffended more quickly than those youth components that have gone through rehabilitative centers within the criminal justice system. This proves that not only that the criminal justice system can offer juveniles more options for their crimes but also that they a proven to work effectively. Contention Two: Juveniles Know right from wrong. The reason the juvenile justice system was formed was because society wanted a less harsh way to hold juveniles accountable for their actions. Their justification was that juveniles were of a lesser level of accountability because of their age. But what we must see in today's debate round is that justice cannot be based on age, but rather if the action was right or wrong. Many arguers against juveniles entering adult courts are that they are not as emotionally ready or stable as an adult to be held accountable for their actions. Although the factor of emotional development has been proven through scientific research committing a crime isn't based of whether your emotions controlled you or not, it's rather you knew if it was right or wrong. We have all experienced the emotional drive versus whether are actions were right or wrong. For example, when one is child and they want a cookie out of the cookie jar their emotions tell them that they want a cookie, but they still know they are going to get in trouble if they decided to grab one. Grabbing the cookie isn't a matter of emotional drive, but whether or not the child is willing to suffer the conseq