Essay about Juvenile Justice Age and Judicial Culpability

This paper will first define culpability, explore its various levels and examine how it is used during sentencing. Next, this paper will examine literature that supports the belief that age is not the key factor in determining culpability and should not be used to determine guilt or innocence during trial. Finally, this paper will suggest that trying juveniles as adults and remanding them into adult facilities is ineffective at decreasing juvenile crime rates. These issues will be reviewed to determine if physical (chronological) age is a justifiable cause to lessen culpability or an excuse used to mask the ineffective research efforts of lawmakers. Culpability has long been defined as a legal term that is used by judicial officials to†¦show more content†¦There are several types of judicial culpability: strict liability, knowingly, full moral agency, recklessly and negligence. If the person is found to be culpable, he or she can be blamed and held criminally responsible for the behaviors which were considered to be criminal in nature Smit (2005). The measure of culpability was found to be a vital part of many legal arguments and sentencing decisions. In rare cases, like strict liability crimes or engaging in conduct where his/her mental state is irrelevant, the accused will always be held responsible, regardless of their assumed culpability Smit (2005). According to Smit (2005), when someone committed a crime knowingly or in cases where the person was very certain that his/her conduct would lead to a certain result, their actions were often looked at as being the most serious form of blameworthiness. Also if the accus ed was also determined to have had what was called full moral agency or the ability to make moral and ethical decisions, he or she was considered to be culpable for the crime in question Giedd et al (1999). Each of these types of legal capabilities could be used to assist legal officials in determining the guilt or innocence of an accused person. Some criminals willingly engaged in activities that they know will possibly lead to a criminal event, become a danger, threat or cause harm toShow MoreRelatedThe Cost of Culpability: The Significance of Numbers Inside the Criminal Justice System (Age and Economics)1244 Words   |  5 Pages Both juveniles and mentally ill adult offenders fell under the above category, it was possible that one could be found not liable due to their age and mental status’ and win a victory in court that could be categorized as legal injustice. Throughout this paper, inconclusive evidence was found that suggested legal definitions were basically written the same but were interpreted differently by various courts. 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