inquency Act of 1974 consolidated previous laws concerning juveniles, institutionalizing and formalizing the juvenile justice system. In 1978, the criminal record of one teenager inspired the New York State Legislature to pass the Juvenile Offender Law. Between the ages 9 and 15, Willie Boskett committed more than 2,000 crimes, culminating in an eight-day spree of robbery and the murder of two people. Under existing laws, he was sentenced to the maximum penalty allowed at that time: five years custody by the New York State Division for Youth. The new legislation allowed juveniles as young as 13 to be tried as adult for the commission of certain violent crimes (http://www.ncjrs.org/ojjhome.htm). The state of Minnesota totally revamped its juvenile justice system, matter of fact it was “it’s biggest...overhaul in 50 years” (Pesce 2A). The law took effect January 1, 1995 and is based on a seven-part crackdown rule. Rather than keep amending laws to just teach youngsters a lesson, Minnesota has adopted these guidelines to punish juveniles as well as being a learning tool. The bottom line is that it will make it a lot easier to prosecute 16 and 17 year-olds in adult courts for the momentous crimes. Also, they will receive both juvenile and adult sentences, and if the juvenile sentence isn’t followed accordingly then the adult sentence will take effect (Pesce 2A). Numerous examples illustrate the wide range of penalties the courts have initiated across the country in their attempts to deal with violent juvenile crime. When 5 year- old Eric Morse was thrown out of a window in Chicago in 1995 for refusing to steal candy for two older boys, his murderers were convicted of the maximum penalty allowed within the juvenile justice system in Illinois. They were sentenced to juvenile prison until they reached the age of 21, and a maximum of nine years. The 12 year-old is incarcerated in state juvenile penitent...
