Juvenile Peer Jury

El Dorado County High School students have an opportunity to participate in the juvenile justice system through the Teen Court program.

After the training, teenagers will serve as the court personnel in real cases in which an offense has been committed by a minor, the minor has admitted to the offense and has chosen to be judged by his or her peers, according to a news release.



http://pubsys.sacbee.com/101/story/1216399.html

The Sixth Amendment suggests that the Defendant have the right to be tried by a jury of his or her peers. Juvenile’s rights differ from adults rights, and this is one example of the way it does. I think it is important to have the right to be tried by a jury of one’s peers, but I disagree that this technique can be effective and successful in juvenile court. Going back to the subject of maturity, I do not think that other juveniles can or should be able to decide the fate of another juvenile. Young adults do know the difference between right and wrong, but I do not think young adults hold the capacity to understand the gravity of this subject to treat it seriously and understand the positive psychological change it could weigh on the defendant with the right punishment.

I think that I would be very helpful for this jury by peers in the effect that these peers can assist the court room members look at the situation from a young adults point of view. Maybe even get an understand of the stressors they go through and what things push them to engage in criminal activities. Whether or not these peers will help the defendant or not, the courtroom can still understand a juveniles psychological thinking patterns by talking to the defendant’s peers.

Juvenile or Adult Court?

Through a fitness hearing, judges decide whether a juvenile is “fit” in order to be tried within the juvenile justice system, according to the alleged crime the juvenile committed. Even though some offenses committed by juveniles would be more proportionate to give the juvenile an adult sentence, other factors weigh in to make the decision to do so or not.

First, it would be wise to try a juvenile in juvenile court if the judge and other courtroom workers feel that the child can be rehabilitated after receiving time in a facility, and participate in rehabilitative programs.

Secondly, the child’s age can counter in questioning factors such as the maturity, experience, decision making, and critical thinking processes some juveniles are slow to process ideals of delinquent behavior and what consequences will come from their actions. In adult court, juveniles are not going to be tried among their peers, so right there alone shows some unjust, but minors do not hold the same mental capacity as adults do so it wouldn’t be fair anyways.

There was a case of a seventeen year old boy by the name of Marquese who officials labeled as a career criminal. Holding a few juvenile felonies under his title, all having to do with theft, Marquese has been through numerous rehabilitation programs and show no signs of improvement in his criminal behavior. Officials hypothesize that Marquese re-offends because he does not have adequate support and supervision after being released from the juvenile facilities since his mother is unable to support him with her drug abusing problem. Marquese is given one more chance to prove himself before he re-offends and definitely goes straight to adult courts for adult penalties.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/four/marquese.html

I think juvenile offenders should be forewarned that their case maybe tried in an adult court, if harsher punishment is necessary. If an offender has been given numerous chances to prove him or her self and been offered different rehabilitation programs and still no positive change has come from it, the juvenile should then receive harsher punishments in order for there to be hope on the offender’s recidivism rate as an adult.

Female Gangs

Most people see gang activity to be masculine and consist of all males, as their female counterparts were seen to just be sex objects not participating in gang activities. Some females were used by the male gang members to carry their guns and drugs for them. Most of these gender role norms have changed and now society is starting to see female gangs grow throughout the years. It’s not just male/female gangs, some gangs only consist of all females.

A while ago, females would join gangs for friendships, security and self affirmation, but as the girls started to involve in gang activity, all stereotypes changed. Young girls were more involved in criminal activity mainly consisting of assault and battery. Girls proved themselves to be committed to their friendships within the gang population and started to gain more respect from their male counterparts who then noticed and accepted them as a member of their gang.

A lot of female gang members come from broken homes that turn to the gang life in order to form family like relationships within these gang, which can offer a sense of belonging, protection, nurturing, and male figures which they may be lacking in their immediate families.

“Many street gangs require the person, wanting to depart from the gangs way of life, to endure a "beat out." This beating frequently is more severe and more injurious to the member than the beating he/she may have taken to join.”
http://www.gangsorus.com/initiations.html

Leaving a gang is like leaving your family, other members do not take the decision lightly. The other gang members may feel as if they are being betrayed or disrespected because the member does not want to lead that lifestyle any longer. Sometimes women have no choice and need to do it when they become pregnant, developing a sense of maturity to understand they need to be there for their child.

Head Start To Delinquency

"Juvenile delinquency begins with participation in the drug trade. Children as young as 9 or 10 are paid as much as $100 a day to serve as lookouts while drug deals are taking place. Next, they become runners and may eventually graduate to being dealers. The neglected children of crack-addicted parents are especially likely to be pulled into the drug culture themselves."

http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/gep_01/gep_01_00361.html

How can a child at such a young age be lured into doing criminal activities? Where are their parents who are not on drugs? A child this young should be involved in after school programs, extra curricular activities, or making money doing chores around the house or neighbor's houses. A child should be supervised by an adult instead of running the streets freely, especially in neighborhoods where drug dealing is high.

Making $100 a day is an offer that is hard to refuse, especially if the child depends on this money to survive because his or her parents are not providing. With parents on drugs, no positive influences, the child may look at the drug dealer as a role model for being helpful enough to offer a money making opportunity. In actuality, the drug dealer is not looking out for the child’s best interest. It is only a temporary job which unfortunately will lead the child towards a delinquent lifestyle associated with selling drugs. "Drug dealing is all I know", is a popular answer when asked why drug dealers don't have a legal job.

With the help of community programs, educating kids about the consequences of delinquency may help deter the kids from being involved in drug activities. Community and local Law Enforcement Officers should familiarize themselves with children and parents within their community. Law Enforcement should see that these drug abusing parents get rehabilited if they don’t want to lose their children to foster families who CAN and WILL take care of their child.

May times neighbors do not want to involve themselves with other family's personal issues, but this issue affect the entire community. If the community wants to seek positive changes and protect their own kids from getting caught in these activities, neighbors need to get involved. Neighbors need to be look outs for children who are engaging in delinquent behaviors, and inform local law enforcement agents of any drug infested homes where children may live.

An Alternative To Gangs

Krumping, originating out of L.A. and turf, originating from the bay area are dance styles that have caught the attention to youth who may otherwise be involved in violent gangs and illegal activities. These dancers join dance teams to work together and compete for titles or money in dance competitions. For a lot of dancers, this is the only thing they have to look forward to and something that can channel their anger and other emotional feeling and issues they are dealing with. Community centers offer their facilities for youth to come and practice their dancing after school and on the weekends so they are not spending their time getting into the trouble on the streets. Downtown San Francisco tourist and locals can find a group of turf and krump dancers showing their talent while spectators drop pocket change in a hat in appreciation to their enjoyment of the dancer’s performances.

These styles of dancing are influenced by African dancing and hip hop dancing created in the 80’s. Some of the moves done are: tutting, popping, locking, bone poppin’, gliding, isolations, ticking, and bucking just to name a few. Recently, turf dancers have been using magic tricks and illustrating stories by pantomiming to gain more attention and credit of creativity from audience members by creating illusions.

Turf teams consist of male and female at all age levels. The size of the team can consist anywhere from two members to large numbers as twenty. For some, Krump dancing came to the attention of others when the R&B singer Chris Brown incorporated it into one of his dance videos. For turf dancing, The Architeckz were featured on music videos aired on T.V. such as E-40’s, “Tell me when to go” video and Fegie’s, “Fergalicious” video. With this recognition, it opened the doors to other teams such as: The Gobotz, Turf fiends, Misfits, Animaniakz, and many more being created and developed daily.

Through the online friends network, Myspace, I was able to ask a local turf dancer, “Yng Hyphy” his take on this subject. “I dance because I want to make it to the age of twenty one. Standing on the street corners will get you killed now days. If people have a problem with me I tell them to battle it out and see who comes out on top. I have anger problems,but dancing keeps my attention and keeps me setting goals for myself, instead of living day by day off of the drug money these gangs out here make, I’d rather stick to my dancing gang, because we make money too and cannot go to jail for it either.”

Described in the second video posted below, members of Super Sicc Wit It express that being on a dance team teaches them things about being on time, being determined, dedicated, focused, hard working, to challenge themselves and other qualities needed in order to survive in the real world once these kids grow older.

A Start To Illegal Gun Control

"Officers inform the adult resident (typically a mother) that the purpose of the program is to confiscate illegal firearms, particularly those belonging to juveniles, without seeking criminal prosecution. Residents are informed that they will not be charged with the illegal possession of a firearm if they sign the consent form. By agreeing not to file criminal charges, the police can focus their attention on getting guns out of the hands of juveniles and send a clear message that juvenile firearm possession is not tolerated by police or the community."

"The program has been criticized as depriving citizens of the right to protect themselves against crime.""

http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/pubs/gun_violence/profile15.html





This program makes complete sense, and finally an effective start to the control of illegal possession of guns in our neighborhoods. Sure it may only be a small dent in the problem, juvenile’s posses only 30% of what adults do, but still, that is 30% of the population we may be saving. According to the Uniform Crime Report of 2005, around 27k guns were seized from people who were 18 years of age and younger, imagine how many guns are still on our streets and in the hands of children who have not been caught by the police and not included in this numerical figure.

The criticism of this program is understandable. Yes, the seizing of guns may be looked upon as depriving citizens of their right to protection, but the program is focusing on teenagers who are not the most responsible to say the least. If a child feels like his or her life is in so much danger that they need a gun to feel safe, maybe they need to change their lifestyle, or request more patrolling in a certain neighborhood. With less crimes being committed because guns are off the street, more funds should be available for a better patrolling system in the most high crime neighborhoods. Let the police take out the criminals by arresting them, and avoid the number of deaths in the community who’s fate rides in the hands of minors.

If weapons are seized, it has never been a problem for the minor to purchase another gun the same day. It would seem pointless then to confiscate the guns in the first place if the black market is so accessible. By making the purchasing process for legal guns more strict and difficult, and the seizing of guns from minors, sooner or later the gun supply will slow down and eventually make it hard for minors to get their hands on illegal firearms in the black market. If the supply is not there, it would be very difficult to purchase an illegal gun, and if one was purchased, it would cost extremely more than it’s actual worth.

This program is just one that should consist of trial and error. Law enforcement should test this program in minor cities in different states and see how far it can go, and how statistic may change for the better or for worse.

Is Rap Music To Blame?

Music is a form of art often times criticized, especially gangster rap, by people who would consider music a gateway exposure to delinquent activities. Is it really the music? Does the music glamorize delinquent activity? Maybe it’s just that non rap listeners want to put the blame on something for causing their children to behave in such a way. Rap music is not only to blame, movies, video games, the news, are all contributing factors that could influencing adolescence to behave inappropriately.

Agreeably, not all rap music is giving out positive suggestions, but it is a form of art. Artist express their thoughts, feelings, stories and struggles with the world, like a biography on a compact disk. Not often do rappers directly tell a juvenile to purposely do this crime or break that law, that’s just no the case. Not all rap is bad, but there are lyrics that can influence behavior, but the music does not change the child’s psyche by merely just listening to the words. A child may have preexisting intent to do such behaviors, the music may play as a trigger to complete the delinquent thought or act. One theory that helps the understanding of adolescence is the social learning theory, and with this in mind, a child could be influenced by this kind of music if enforced and glamorized so much that he or she is modeled into doing the delinquent acts.

“Adolescents who preferred heavy metal and rap music were compared with those who preferred other types of music. Results indicated that adolescents who preferred heavy metal and rap had a higher incidence of below-average school grades, school behavior problems, sexual activity, drug and alcohol use, and arrests.”

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri 65473 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7832025

Many people would agree that music period is great to dance to whether listening to the lyrics or not, the beat catches the audience. With music and all sources of ill entertainment, many would agree that maturity becomes the biggest factor of all relating to this issue.
It just so happened to be that the majority of the rappers out there come from poverty stricken neighborhoods, a lot of these rappers have been influenced, not by other rap, but what they have experienced as young children and throughout their lives. So where does the majority of crimes take place… in places of poverty, it’s on a continuum in those neighborhoods. Come from a broken home as a child, get older and put your life on c.d. where others can relate.