Juvenile Delinquency

Juvenile Delinquency is the participation of illegal behavior by a minor who falls under a statutory age limit. A delinquent is a minor who commits a crime or a status offense. A status offense is conduct that is illegal only because the child is under age i.e. smoking cigarettes (Senna 10, 20). The cases of Eric Smith, Lionel Tate, and an unidentified NJ child are similar only because, they are guilty of killing another child, but the Criminal Justice System treated and punished them very differently. In August 1993 in Savona, New York 13 year old Eric Smith killed 4 year old Derrick Robie. Smith lured Robie into the woods and strangled, beat with large rocks, and sodomized Robie. Smith was questioned by police and kept changing some details in his story. This made police believe that he knew more about the case than he was telling them. Smith confessed to his parents ' that he killed Robie. Smiths ' parents took him to the police. They didn 't consult with an attorney. Smith confessed to police that he killed Robie and was charged with second degree murder. The prosecutor didn 't offer Smith any plea deals. Under NY State Law defendants ' that were 13 at the time of the crime can be tried and sentenced as adults '. The prosecutor had the discretion to try Smith as a juvenile, but instead chose to try him as an adult. As a young child Smith displayed anger problems. He would throw tantrums ' and bang his head on the floor. Smith was a firebug and would kill small animals. He would hit his siblings and would punch things to let out his anger. In school Smith had a learning disability, speech problems and was left back. He was bullied a lot and it affected his self esteem. He had a very low self esteem. Smith 's mother while pregnant with him took tridione to control her epileptic seizures. Tridione can cause birth defects and may have caused physical and developmental defects in Eric. Smith 's attorney said he suffered from a mental disease called intermittent

Bibliography: www.cbsnews.com Eric Smith Case www.cnn.com Lionel Tate Case www.courtv.com Lionel Tate Case www.findlaw.edu Eric Smith Video CBS Lionel Tate Video ABC Senna, Joseph J., Larry J. Siegel, and Brandon C. Welsh. 9th ed. Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, and Law. Belmont, CA: Thomson, 2006. O 'Neill, Jim. "Boy, 12, sent to youth home for accidental fatal shooting." The Star Ledger 29 September 2006, online.