Juvenile delinquency rights could not be as just as they are today without the efforts of reformers throughout history. In the late 18th and early 1900s, young people who committed crimes had few or no rights. Children as young as 7 can be tried as adults and even face the death penalty. These punishments were so outrageous that even if you spoke against your parents' wishes, you would be put in prison. Something had to be done about this cruel treatment of such a young child, who may or may not know right from wrong. The victims had the questions, the government had both the power and, most importantly, the resolve. It was not only the right, but also the responsibility, for those who disagreed with a dangerous issue to change everything. American cities were beginning to experience high rates of child poverty and neglect, and emerging urban leaders needed to find a way to make the problem go away. It took reformers like Thomas Eddy, Alexander Maconochie, John Augustus and numerous Supreme Court cases to get everything to fall into place. Reformers disagreed with the harsh treatment the children witnessed, they urged the justice system to establish a separate system. for Juveniles. Many people, like Alexander M., believed that children should be helped rather than punished as adults. February 11, 1787 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He entered the Royal Navy in 1803 and was a prisoner of war from 1811 to 1814. In 1836, as private secretary to Lieutenant Governor Sir John Franklin, he wrote an article against the state prison. principles. Maconochie was a spiritual man, of an altruistic and sympathetic mentality and convinced of the dignity of a ...... middle of paper ...... and convicted in an adult court where he was sentenced to dead. Thompson's lawyers appealed the court's decision. However, the state's appeal did not change that appeal by arguing that the imposition of the death penalty actually violated the 8th Amendment's protection against "cruel and unusual punishment." As a result of this decision, this case was referred to the United States Supreme Court. A 5-3 vote helped overturn Thompson's death sentence. The majority's author, Justice John Paul Stevens, said "civilized standards of decency" prohibited the death penalty for someone under 16 at the time of the death sentence. his crime. Justice Antonin Scalia dissented. He wrote: "There is no rational basis for discerning in this a societal judgment that no one, even a day under the age of 16, can ever be sufficiently mature and morally responsible to deserve this penalty.".…."