Among some of the latest cases involving juveniles in the adult court system, a 14-year-old Florida boy was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The case sparked controversy across the nation, leaving Americans with mixed emotions about what the system should do with juvenile offenders.

Ben Stone, executive director of Iowa Civil Liberties Union, said the official stance of the American Civil Liberties Union is to make available another way to deal with these minors.

“One of the problems we have in the current justice system is we only have two options,” he said – trying them as a minor and making them suffer minimal consequences or trying them as a “full-blown adult.”

“What we would like to see is a reasonable middle ground,” he said.

Matt DeLisi, assistant professor of sociology, said the adult and juvenile systems differ philosophically. The primary goals of the adult criminal justice system are incapacitation and retribution. The goals of the juvenile justice system are correction and rehabilitation.

“For many, to harshly punish a youthful offender is to abdicate hope,” he said.

According to the Iowa Code, a minor is simply a person under the age of 18. If a 16-year-old minor commits a forcible felony, they are to be excluded from juvenile court and charged as an adult unless the court transfers jurisdiction of the child to the juvenile court upon motion and for good cause.

Stephen Holmes, Story County attorney, said “the problem comes up when you’re under 16.”

He said minors under the age of 16 can be charged as adults in certain instances.

“If individuals who are 12, 13 or 14 have shot and killed one or more people,” Holmes said, “the county attorney is placed in the position to weigh the aspects of what [the attorney] should do in order to seek justice for the family of the deceased versus rehabilitation of the offender.”

DeLisi said there are many factors influencing the decision of whether or not to waive cases to adult court. Among the minor influences are sex, ethnicity or race and socioeconomic status.

“The severity of the current offense and the prior criminal record are the dominant reasons that youth are prosecuted as adults,” he said. “This is an essential point to understand. First-time offender youth who shoplift are not the usual adolescent waived to adult court. Youth who demonstrate chronic criminality and/or commit the most egregious offenses are the most likely to be prosecuted as adults.”

DeLisi said about 30 percent of crimes are committed by persons under the age of 18.

Stone said it is becoming increasingly popular to see legislatures write what he called “one size fits all” crimes.

“We are opposed to statutes passed by the legislature that require all persons to be charged the same,” he said. “It takes away discretion for the judicial system to decide what is appropriate for the individual.”

DeLisi said there are basically two arguments as to what to do with the minors. He said the liberal argument is that a vengeful justice system does not address root causes of social problems and certain youth are disproportionately punished, while the conservative argument is that the soft rehabilitation approach has not worked at all, and adult punishment is the best way to reduce crime.

“A popular maxim is what a nation does to its children, its children will one day do to the nation,” he said.

DeLisi said he personally believes minors should be charged as adults.

“I have little faith in the redemption of a person, young or old, who preys on other human beings,” he said. “To advocate anything less than the most severe legal sanctions for crime is to tacitly enable its commission.”