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So, what do you think? Do you believe that when "children" perpetrate serious crimes like this, that they should be treated as adults? Should they be tried as juveniles? What sort of punishment would fit the crime?
I don't think children should ever be tried as adults. Adults should be tried as adults. Children should be tried as children. A child doesn't magically become an adult simply because the particular crime they committed was worse than some other crime some other child committed. The entire concept is morally bankrupt.
That's my take as far as punishment goes - transferring kids directly from juvenile detention straight to prison on their 18th birthday. As for rehabilitiation, I wouldn't have a problem with mental evaluations and mandatory treatment for violent minors before completely releasing them. There is still public safety to consider.
So, what do you think? Do you believe that when "children" perpetrate serious crimes like this, that they should be treated as adults? Should they be tried as juveniles? What sort of punishment would fit the crime?
throw them in the ****ing clink, I never would have killed some innocent person when I was their age and the majority of 14 year olds wouldn't either.
Why do bleeding hearts believe that these demented creatures even deserve a chance to "rehabilitate" themselves. They are rabid animals, not salvageable, and will go on to commit more heineous crimes, in prison or out. Either way, my tax dollars and yours will continue to support them from birth to death.
The percentage of sociopaths in this country rises while we wring our hands and search for "reasons why". America has reached the tipping point where its' parasites are having more offspring than productive members of society.
Kill them now before they have a chance to reproduce.
So, what do you think? Do you believe that when "children" perpetrate serious crimes like this, that they should be treated as adults? Should they be tried as juveniles? What sort of punishment would fit the crime?
yes, they should be punished as adults.
first, they should receive a sound beating and then get a long prison term.
these children are trash and should be treated as such.
Yes they should treated and charged as adults.
Could Keep them in secure juvenile lockup until 18 yrs...then they are ready to be moved to adult prison. That's fair enough.
The two year old who lost her mom will NEVER get her back.
Last edited by truthseeking; 12-12-2012 at 11:16 PM..
Reason: edit
Obviously you didn't bother to read any of the links in re the actions/thought processes which can be "impaired" by children at that age as a result of the lack of development of the prefrontal cortex. In fact, an "underdeveloped brain" is indeed a REASON for certain actions. THERE is a reason that most states who have the death penalty in this country DO NO EXECUTE JUVENILES ANYMORE. The underdeveloped brain is another really good reason that CHILDREN are not allowed to buy guns/firearms legally.
Apparently being an anthropologist hasn't given you a lot of background in re the law.
No, NOT EVERYBODY does something horrible during the years of development of the frontal lobes; however, some do. Most kids do things that are annoying and many times parents just can't understand why they do such crazy crap....and usually they "grow out of it." Teenagers are infamous for doing "annoying/weird" things.
What "patronizing" tone?
"Now when someone is in their early 20s, you can talk about "breeding a criminal"........but at 14 their BRAINS are not even close to being fully developed. The prefrontal cortex of the frontal lobes, which is the area of the brain responsible for "judgement calls" is NOT physically even close to being complete, therefore, we call these little people children because their BRAINS (you know, that organ we use to THINK and is called the "CEO" of the judgement center in the brain), are not ADULT at that point." . Not patronising ??? Are you kidding me ? "you know that organ we use to think"....
And once again I still stand by my opinion. You never answered my question about not allowing anyone under the age of 25 to be treated as an adult as their brain is not fully developed until then....
My point was that all the necessary tools not to take a life, the building blocks, foundation and key stones to make moral judgements are still there even at 14. You talk about kids doing stupid annoying things in the same breath as someone taking the life of an innocent human being. Prove to me those kids did not know they were doing something wrong and did not make a decision to kill and were simply guided by some deranged hormones playing havoc with the deepest moral understanding and acuity and I might change my mind.
And once again a 14 year old knows killing is wrong, he understands death is permanent, understands the repercussions of his actions, realises people will mourn, that this is not something which can be undone.
And I am certainly not a social conservative by any stretch of the imagination unlike many other conservative posters who have responded to this thread. But I never under estimate children's potential and their intelligence and innate moral compass. A 14 year old is a child under the law. To me when it comes to murdering someone or torturing them ( we had a notorious case in the UK when two 10 year olds tortured a toddler for hours and then murdered him and they should have been tried as adults IMO - they were sent to Juvie, released in total anonymity and one of them went on to reoffend and was found guilty of child pornography offences ) which is the building block of our morality as human beings, a crime so heinous it cannot be excused by the "undeveloped brains" get out clause IMO.
Poor judgement calls is one thing. Murdering someone is not poor judgement call or bad decision making. That is far too basic a moral value to be seen as anything but a wilful act of malice.
I would love to see the reaction of the populace when you start claiming a 25 year old is barely old enough to be considered responsible for his actions. " Sorry your Honour, I raped and tortured that woman because my itsy teeny brain was not quite fully developed...". That's a licence to murder basically.
The list of things only 25 year olds and over should be allowed to do because of this mental deficiency would be a long one...
Murder, rape and torture exclude you automatically from getting a free pass a child as far as I am concerned. By their very essence these are adult crimes. And thus they should be treated as adults.
I can accept a kid who steal his parent's car and ends up running over someone might not have thought it through....
But wilful murder ( or rape or torture). No way. I am also fed up to the back teeth with kids who get away with not only murder but all kinds of other crimes and taunt the justice system because "you can't touch me , I am a minor..."... We have had feral kids in the UK basically putting their middle fingers at the police because they know the worst that will happen to them is a slap on the wrist and at worst a couple of years in Juvie because the poor darlings did not know what they were doing. Yeah right.
Some kids now actually know the law so well they have learnt what they can get away with and our society is being held to ransoms by little thugs who know we are soft on them. Extremely dangerous and worrying for society and not the way to bring up kids either. Kids need boundaries and treating them like precious little porcerlain dolls with no moral responsibility is IMO a really , really stupid thing to do and dare I say neglect on our part and an abnegation of our responsibilities.
Children are adults with less life experience. But you don't need life experience or a fully developed brain to tell you that murder is bloody wrong and immoral.
Those idiots who rant about the brain not being formed, are no different than White using the Twinkie defence. Its always someone else's fault, its not my fault I was on drugs, mama sat me on the toilet seat back wards when I was five. I ate too many Twinkies, my brain was not fully formed. LOL Its bogus science and its crap defence. There is not any defence. My advice if a 14 YO attacks you, shoot the Fuc$er in the head. Don't wound them, they may sue, shoot them square in the head and send them to a dirt nap for life. Get some scum defence attorney to get you out of that one with an unformed brain defence. LOL Fix that abnormal brain with one 25 cent bullet.
Its like the Travon Martin case. He is not a child. The press tried to make out that he was some 5yo sitting on his back porch. He could not be told apart from a 25yo. Now the press and many I like to listen to like Lawrence Odonald are quite mouth shut about this now that photos showing Zimmerman with a broken nose and cut and bleeding head. Where is all the rage about Skittles and tea now? As I said above, if your going to let them off, carry a gun and put a bullet in these punks head when they pull on you. Screw em. Lets see how a dirt nap will treat them as children. Does a dirt nap have a lesser sentence for children? Nope all are treated the same. Shoot the fuc$ers.
The frontal lobes of kids this age are not fully developed. I think that portion of the brain is not fully developed in humans until early 20s. So, no, they should not be tried as adults. They are unable to make responsible adult decisions. There's a reason kids this age are called "children."
Spoken like a true can of cat food, Fancy
But you're correct according to the most recent research, as if we needed to spend Millions of dollars to scientifically conclude that teenagers often behave like brain dead idiots. One two hour analysis of the behavior you'll witness at your average college beer pong tournament would provide all the necessary research data to expose this mystery of the ages.
Nevertheless, there is a vast difference between juvenile delinquency, and capital murder, and once this violent stage of antisocial behavior comes home to roost, the war is lost, the deal is off, and so must the "kid glove" treatment. Rehabilitation must be engaged long before this manifests ... and that's a major part of the problem with our leftist world of "tolerance", and a justice system that seems equally mindless and immature, with it's priorities in "left field".
These so-called "kids" have already had heir run ins with the law .... harassment and disorderly conduct charges are the big red flag that should have demanded more swift and effective action from a system that spends too much time and resources in the wrong areas ... sometimes to the point of shear lunacy, like arresting a 4th grader for falling asleep at their desk, or a 3rd grader who's mom packed a plastic knife in their kid's lunch to cut his apple .... while treating violent teenage thugs like fragile porcelain dolls who are simply misunderstood and lacking a little love.
Remanding kids like this to juvenile detention, only to be unleashed back onto the general public at the age of 21 is mind numbing lunacy .... not only because of the very predictable disaster that is likely to result then, but the damage that these types may inflict upon the juvenile population of those "rehabilitation" centers who may be there for far lesser offenses than cold blooded murder.
But because there is no reason inherent in liberal reasoning, wiser responses and more effective courses of action cannot be expected. We now find ourselves in the bizarre world where there is "Zero Tolerance" for things like plastic G.I. Joe guns in the pockets of 7 year olds, and an abundance of misplaced tolerance for teenage gangsters who consider popping a cap into another human being as a milestone in their coming of age.
The inmates really are in charge of the asylum now.
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America has reached the tipping point where its' parasites are having more offspring than productive members of society. 
