Good Morning Everyone!
After yesterday's eventful day of hypothetical scenarios involving the police, I thought it would be a good idea to learn more about the juvenile justice system in the U.S.
Task 1: Vocabulary
Review the following list and look up the definition for any words you are unfamiliar with. Listen to the pronunciation as well.
appeal
capital
punishment
caution
cell
community
service
corporal
punishment
court
court
case
death
penalty
defense
fine
jail
guilty
imprisonment
innocent
judge
jury
justice
lawyer
offence
prison
probation
prosecution
punishment
sentence
trial
verdict
witness
Task 2: Watch
When a kid commits a crime, the US justice system has a choice: prosecute to the full extent of the law, or take a step back and ask if saddling young people with criminal records is the right thing to do every time. In this searching talk, Adam Foss, a prosecutor with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office in Boston, makes his case for a reformed justice system that replaces wrath with opportunity, changing people's lives for the better instead of ruining them.
Click the following link to watch Adam Foss's speech
Task 2: Discuss
After watching the Ted Talk, scroll down to the discussion section and read the comments people posted. There are 90 comments, however, you do not need to read all of them. Choose the best comment and comment to this blog with your response to the comment. Tell me why you chose this comment and why you like or dislike what the person wrote.
Leslie Taylor
ReplyDeleteMr. Foss understands power and how it can impact social change. So much. So grateful for his empathy, compassion and strength.
I like this comment because I agree with what she is writing about Mr. Foss
why?
Delete"I absolutely LOVED this! It is so great to hear a prosecutor to think this way and want to better our justice system rather than looking for the next win. Unfortunately today the system is so overwhelmed with criminals that so easily could be reformed rather than being stuck in the vicious cycle of the system that Christopher could have been stuck in. I really wished there were more proactive prosecutors out there just like this man. Do I think it is going to be a perfect and flawless way to fix the system? No, I do not. We did not get into this mess overnight nor will we get out of it overnight. Nothing is ever perfect in this world and we all make mistakes and some of those mistakes should result in jail time, however, it would be great to have a system in place for all of the other Christopher's out there in the world."
ReplyDeleteI liked this comment because she writes about not being able to change the system overnight, but nothing is perfect in the world. And she is right. The system needs to change, but it won't happen overnight.
He hit the head on the nail! The problem in the US is that most prosecutors just try to get the most people the longest time in prison to punish them, that's how prosecutors"win"!
ReplyDeleteThat whole thing is ludicrous and we should think what is best for society!
US should look at the Nordic countries, here we focus on rehabilitation and prefer fines rather than jail time, and when people are in jail they train their skills to gain a job once they come out!
Also minor crimes dissapear from your record after a couple of years !
Yes I agree. I love Sweden and this above just proves that Sweden and it's neighboring countries are the best places in the world. We do not treat people like humans without emotion we know that people make mistakes and gets them back on the right path.
I chose Odd's comment since he's speaking the truth. The kingdom of Sweden is the best sovereignty and may the higher powers bless our beloved Carl XVI Gustaf.
DeleteThe most important and logical thing should be what Oddles wrote above, "We should think what is best for society!"
One comment said that her son died by suicide at the age of 19 because of the pressure of his mistake, but the prosecutor just ignored it. It's really sad to hear this kind of news. Like what Adam said, we should spend money on the real solution to save the juveniles, not on locking up a teenager for a year.
ReplyDeleteSomeones son committed suicide because of his punishment. He was supposed to go jail. He would have had a bright future according to the comment. He died at the age of 19. I agree to Mr.Foss to help people who committed a crime instead of ruin their lives.
ReplyDeleteextremely convincing
Delete"I absolutely LOVED this! It is so great to hear a prosecutor to think this way and want to better our justice system rather than looking for the next win. Unfortunately today the system is so overwhelmed with criminals that so easily could be reformed rather than being stuck in the vicious cycle of the system that Christopher could have been stuck in. I really wished there were more proactive prosecutors out there just like this man. Do I think it is going to be a perfect and flawless way to fix the system? No, I do not. We did not get into this mess overnight nor will we get out of it overnight. Nothing is ever perfect in this world and we all make mistakes and some of those mistakes should result in jail time, however, it would be great to have a system in place for all of the other Christopher's out there in the world."
ReplyDelete-I strongly agree to this comment and the general opinion of that opportunity is a more beneficial way of keeping youth on the right side of the law than the one of provided by the justice system. Young people could easily find themselves in criminal situations because of different reasons that they might not be able to control or get out of. The fact that these events could influence their entire futures are crazy and I think that prosecution of youth does more harm than good in most cases.
I chose this comment because I think that the author is keeping it real. She enlightens the importance of a renewed justice system, but at the same time she emphasizes the fact that this will not be able to be done over night.
He hit the head on the nail! The problem in the US is that most prosecutors just try to get the most people the longest time in prison to punish them, that's how prosecutors"win"!
ReplyDeleteThat whole thing is ludicrous and we should think what is best for society!
I like this because lots of people only think about theirselves and do not care about others.
Task 3
ReplyDeleteLike the other guy said in my other comment, they get treatment and a way to find your way into a different and better path.
Adam, I wish my son had you as a prosecutor! Instead, he went to jail, received a felony, which in turn has changed he path in life.
ReplyDeleteMy son did not deserve the sentence he received. He needed compassion.
Yet he still has over come his impeding judgement. He has gotten off probation, worked his butt off to pay fines, and line probation officers pocket. Now he started in om the ground floor of a major company in our area. He has worked there less than 30 days and he has been promoted. He recently married and has a new baby. I saw the injustice that the system places on teens. Once they're in the system it's a never ending cycle of paying money but then can't pay bc they can't get a good job. Every new prosecutor needs to listen to your talk. I encourage you to make copies and send to the schools where they will graduate.
Thank you for beingbyou
I like this comment, because he's talking from a personal point of view due to his experience with the justice system
In my country, juveniles would be sent to school to receive the education of reform, and try to lead them to the right path. I think it's really similar to what Adam is doing.
ReplyDeleteJuveniles who commit crime in Sweden gets support from the social service in order to reduce the risk for the prosecuted to proceed in a criminal career. The system is not made to incarcerate the perpetrators, but rather to help them back into society . The counties are supposed to offer help to people up to 21 years old and voluntary settlement is offered to both the victim and perpetrator where the perpetrator can realize how severe the consequences were for the victim.Rehabilitation for these adolescents is what society gains the most from.
ReplyDeleteSource:
http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/valds-ochbrottsrelateradefragor/ungasombegarbrott
Task 3: No punishment for a child less than 15 years old.
ReplyDeleteNo courts to try criminal cases against juvenile offenders.
Teens older than 15 years old can be tried in ordinary courts of law and sentenced to prison.
In my country, those juvenile will take some classes or treatment so that they can have a better lives in the future.
ReplyDeleteTask 3: If you have a record before your 18th, when you eventually turn 18 your record will be absolved, if the crime you committed wasn't too severe, like murder. If you serve a long time in prison, you will be send to a rehabilitation centre, so that you can quickly get back into the society.
ReplyDeleteJuveniles who committed a crime are judged by the "Jugendschutzgesetz" in Germany. That means that the punishments are less hard. Furthermore they have the chance to work in jail and earn a bit money. In addition there is the possibility to study and graduate on a low level for juveniles who has not graduated yet. The prison schedule tries to prepare the juveniles for the life beyond the prison walls and makes them able to live and work in freedom again. The time in jail should help the juveniles to realize what they did wrong and make them a better person.
ReplyDeleteJakob is the proof that this system in Germany is doing something wrong...
DeleteThis is definitely the realest Talk I have ever seen. It claims that all the people with power are doing is using it senselessly and too often not for good. Thumbs up to this comment! I like it because every single person thinks as a group, but if we start to think as an individual to change the world it would be more effective than wait for the others to start a change.
ReplyDeleteIf we want a better world, and the people -like prosecutors- have the power yet to make it a better world, why not do so? It will affect the future world we ALL would have to live in. Use your power for the good of those "criminals" as well as yourself.
The ones convicted only need help. Prison doesn't help anyone; not the judge, not the country, not the convicted. The only good is a little more pay to the prosecutor and a temporary safety to the community. The amount of money/ success that goes to the lawyer does not amount to the amount of money and success that person would have contributed to the community if given the opportunity.
Task 3:
ReplyDeleteChildren under the age of 15 are not punishable under the law. A young person between the ages of 15 and 17 who commits an offence is usually sentenced to a fine or one of the special sanctions for young people: youth care, youth service or institutional youth care. People under the age of 18 are very rarely sentenced to prison, but this is possible if the young person committed a very serious offence shortly before he or she reached the age of 18.
http://www.government.se/contentassets/9ebb0750780245aeb6d5c13c1ff5cf64/the-swedish-judicial-system.pdf
Back in Switzerland it's partly the same. What I like in Switzerland is that the young criminals get help from the government if they don't get it from their family. Even if they get support from their families, the government will help them for example if they're heavily alcoholic to go to a rehab. If they have social or behavioral problems the government will provide private hours with social workers.
ReplyDelete"Bravo, Mr. Foss! It's hard to hear the statistics, and even harder to hear the individual stoires. I only wish my nephew had been attending college in Boston instead of Minnesota, where at least one prosecutor believes he has no power to make decisions. My nephew and a friend played a prank on a teammate and pretended to burglarize his apartment, with ski masks and airsoft guns. Someone saw them leaving the apartment and called the police and they were arrested. The prosecutor said he had no discretion, and regardless if the guns were real or not, if he went to trial the law would mandate 25 years in prison. So he had to take a plea deal of 1 year in jail and 10 years probation. This bright, kind, young man, who wanted to be an attorney, can now not even vote. After jail, he finished his degree, finished all of his community service in record time, speaks regularly to church youth groups, but now struggles to find a job. He has so much to offer our world. Where is the justice in that?"
ReplyDeleteI think this comment remarks exactly the kind of situation that could be avoided putting just a little more of humanity on the decision that a prosecutor makes on the case that is working on. May be they should be tough in a different way and the career must have a kind of subject or be focused more on making better the lives of the people that is being judge. The problem is that the entire justice system is more like a huge market where only the people who works there end up wining. So you could basically say that problem is the selfishness of the people on the top of this system.
The juvenile justice system in the US is a system used to deal with youth convicted to crime. The youth are sentenced in juvenile court and can face a variety of consequences such as probation, community service, youth incarceration and alternative schooling. The juvenile justice system is for youth under the age of 18.
ReplyDeleteIn Sweden, on the other hand, doesn't have juvenile courts. Youth 15 years of age and older are tried in the same criminal justice system as adult offenders. Although they are often provided shorter sentences because of their reduced culpability. https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=154201
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_juvenile_justice_system