Juvenile Justice and Reform

For my research paper I would like to research the topic juvenile offenders. While many cases have already come before the Supreme Court of the United States that shape juvenile justice, more must be done. The United States of America leads the world in incarceration rates. There are approximately forty-eight thousand youths currently incarcerated and many of those who will end up back in the criminal justice system. For this paper I wish to draw attention to the incarceration epidemic of juvenile offenders. I would like to start by briefly overviewing the juvenile justice system and the history of it. I would next bring context to the many high-profile cases that have established precedence in juvenile justice. Following this I want to highlight the prosecution of juvenile offenders as adults and what a conviction and sentencing in adult court could mean for their future. I would then like to suggest alternatives for juvenile offenders to be rehabilitated and still satisfy the public interest of justice.