The courts are hesitant to treat juvenile offenders like adult offenders, but sometimes it's necessary when rehabilitation isn't possible.

The courts are violating juvenile offenders' rights by sentencing them as they would adults, and exposing them to cruel and unusual punishment.

Criminal justice for both adult and juvenile offenders should focus on rehabilitation over incarceration, as incarceration is ineffective and expensive.

Treating juvenile offenders as adults has been ineffective, wasteful, and unresponsive to what is known about adolescent brain development.

"Children and adults are different, a fact the law routinely recognizes when juveniles are prohibited from buying beer or casting a vote." (Paragraph 1)

"Yet in recent years, many states have decided to sentence more children to the longer periods of incarceration normally reserved for adults, especially for serious and violent crimes." (Paragraph 2)

"Studies comparing the recidivism rates of youth processed in the juvenile system with those handled in the adult system indicate that youth processed in the adult system are likely to re-offend more quickly and at higher rates." (Paragraph 5)

"For too long, we have defaulted to incarceration as a way to respond to all manner of adolescent behavior." (Paragraph 7)

To explore both sides of the debate regarding sentencing juveniles as adults

To show how treating juvenile offenders as adults is ineffective

To emphasize why juvenile offenders are likely to be rehabilitated

To stress how the criminal justice system is a burden on taxpayers