In some cases, it is possible to reform their behavior but in other cases, juvenile offenders already take on the hardened attitude normally associated with adult offenders. As a result, some juveniles are too far gone to reach through non-punitive methods by the time they reach high school age. In terms of the protections afforded by American due process principles, those principles are essential to the fair administration of criminal justice and they provide a much more fair judicial system than those of most other countries (Dershowitz 2002).

However, in terms of the distinction between due process with respect to suspending concepts of guilt in crimes perpetrated by juveniles, the strict application of punitive sentences for criminal conduct may sometimes be more appropriate. Certainly, there are aspects of the criminal justice system and its current approach to drug crimes that seem to overemphasize the due process model. The fact that mandatory sentencing guidelines accomplish the very opposite of the objectives of the distinction between juvenile criminal justice administration and adult criminal justice administration. Mandatory sentencing guidelines limit the authority of judges to employ the mid-twentieth-century approach to rehabilitation over punishment in the interest of juvenile offenders. Likewise, arbitrary criminal sentences that require significantly longer sentences for the identical crime except for the type of drug at issue (USSC 2007) often result in sentences that are arbitrarily harsh in light of the potential for rehabilitation. Conceptual...

However, if the social purpose of the criminal justice system includes rehabilitation and the prevention of juvenile offenders in particular from turning to life of crime, the focus on punishment is inadvisable.
Today, criminal justice experts and sociologists understand how much environmental factors such as early exposure to criminal conduct and lack of responsible parental models in the home contribute to juvenile crime. Instead of imposing restrictions on the minimum sentences capable of being imposed by judges, sentencing guidelines should allow judicial discretion to impose community-type corrections instead of institutional confinement, especially in cases involving juvenile offenders.

References

Dershowitz, a.M. (2002). Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age. New York: Little Brown & Co.

Friedman, L.M. (2005). A History of American Law. New York: Touchstone.

Pinizzotto, a., Davis, E., Miller, C. (2007). Street Gang Mentality: A Mosaic of Remorseless Violence and Relentless Loyalty. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Sep. 2007: 1-7.

Schmalleger, F. (2008) Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st Century. New Jersey: Prentice Hall

United States Sentencing Commission (2007) Guidelines; May/07. Retrieved December…