He said, "I was not charged as an adult.” He also said that “ he, still“still thinks about the man he killed.” Ashford knows that he took a human being’s life and he is appreciative that he got a chance to restart his life. Judges and prospectorsprosecutors should not treat juveniles as an adultadults because their brains are not the same as the adultsadults' and because they're unaware ofunable to think through the consequences of their decisions.
Another reason why Judgesjudges and prosecutorprosecutors should not triedtry juveniles as adults because of they likely to beis due to the likelihood of their being victims of sexuallysexual and physically abusedphysical abuse. In the article by Andrea Wood, “Cruel and Unusual Punishment,” the authorby Andrea Wood, who is a United States District Judge, says, Juvenilesthat juveniles who are put ininto adult facilities andare immediately abuse withabused within the first 48 hours in an adult prison. The total of juveniles that are victims of substantiated sexual violence in prisons and jails is made up ofto 7.7 percent. The hardest partaspect of juveniles being sexualsexually abused and raperaped is the chance of being exposed to HIV/AIDS, hepatitis…..hepatitis, etc. According to the article by Wood, the United States has the highest rate of HIV and confirmed AIDS thatis five times more thanin a general prison. Juveniles who have been sexual assaultassaulted and raperaped are most likely to haveexperience long-term emotional and psychological consequences that can lead to major post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. In the article” Adultsarticle ”Adults and Juveniles Should not Mix in Prison,” The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission Report statesnotes that juveniles in adult jailjails are 36 times more likely to commit suicide. The same report saysstates, “We cannot keep children safe in adult prisons.” (Gunasekera). In the article “In Prison, Teenagers Become Prey” by a human rights activist T.J. Parsell....[INCOMPLETE]