Sentencing teenage offenders as adults
has a strong deterrent effect on other teenagers. Giving teenagers
guilty of violent crimes long sentences in adult prisons sends the
clear message to other teens that crime does not pay. A 1998 Florida
study found that within a year or two after local prosecutors started
to try teenagers as adults, Florida's potential teenage criminals
got the message. Teenage offenders who were interviewed reported that
they decided to stop offending as soon as they knew they could be
tried as adults. Furthermore, many of these offenders said that seeing
their peers tried as adults gave them the needed "wake-up call"
that committing crimes would indeed have serious consequences. _____________________________________
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