Juvenile Delinquency Rights could not be as just as they are today without the efforts of reformers throughout history. During the late 18th and early 19th century, young people who committed crimes were afforded few or no rights. Children as young as 7 years old can be tried and tried as adults even have the possibility of the death penalty. These punishments were so scandalous that even if you spoke against your parents' wishes you would be put in prison. Something had to be done about these cruel treatments for a child so young who may or may not know right from wrong. The victims had the questions, the government had both the power and, more importantly, the resolve. Changing everything was not only a right, but also a responsibility for people who disagreed with the dangerous problem. American cities were beginning to reach high rates of poverty and child abandonment, and so rising urban leaders had to find a way to make the problem disappear. This took reformers like Thomas Eddy, Alexander Maconochie, John Augustus, and many Supreme Court cases for everything to fall into place. The reformers did not agree with the harsh treatment the children were witnessing, 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 by adults. February 11, 1787 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He joined the Royal Navy in 1803 and was a prisoner of war from 1811 to 1814. In 1836 as private secretary to the lieutenant governor Sir John Franklin he wrote an article against the state prison principles. Maconochie was a spiritual man, selfless and compassionate minded and convinced of the dignity of a... middle of paper... and convicted in adult court where he was sentenced to death. Thompson's lawyers appealed this court decision. However, the state appellate court did not amend that appeal by arguing that the imposition of the death sentence was in fact a violation of the 8th Amendment's protection against "cruel and unusual punishment," because of this ruling the case was sent to the United States Supreme Court. A 5-3 vote helped overturn Thompson's death sentence. The majority writer, Justice John Paul Stevens, stated that "civil standards of decency" prohibit the death penalty for a person who was under 16 at the time of conviction. his crime. Justice Antonin Scalia dissented. He wrote: "There is no rational basis for discerning a social judgment that no one even a day under 16 can ever be mature and morally responsible enough to deserve that punishment".…."