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On charging the child, if investigation looks like it is a murder/homicide charge, then I do see that it can be appropriate. However, I don't agree with treating children under the age of 18 as an adult in our criminal courts. If this boy has some psychological problems, I'd hope they'd use this horrible occurrence to get him some help for a long period of time in a decent facility that serves juveniles only so that he can hopefully grow up and become a responsible adult.
On charging the child, if investigation looks like it is a murder/homicide charge, then I do see that it can be appropriate. However, I don't agree with treating children under the age of 18 as an adult in our criminal courts. If this boy has some psychological problems, I'd hope they'd use this horrible occurrence to get him some help for a long period of time in a decent facility that serves juveniles only so that he can hopefully grow up and become a responsible adult.
18?
Old enough to drive at 16.....
They can go have an abortion without parental consent, even younger.
18?
Old enough to drive at 16.....
They can go have an abortion without parental consent, even younger.
I would say 14 and under treat them as a child.
These threads pop up often and I am very consistent on this - yes under the age of 18 is what I believe.
I have a teenager who is 17 right now. Teenagers are very immature but my 17 year old is WAY more mature today than he was at 14. 14 is a child and it would be "cruel and unusual" punishment IMO to charge them as an adult and place them in adult facilities where they will be abused and become better criminals for when they are eventually released.
All children should be given the opportunity to grow and mature. Also most children who commit crime have some issues in related to their home life or mental state and they act out because of those issues and not having a fully developed brain up to really the early 20s. If a child/adult cannot vote until 21 IMO they should not be charged as an adult really until that age. But I'm okay with 18 right now.
I am 40 and I'm a totally different person in regards to my views of the world today than I was at 18. I was also more impulsive at 18 than I am today as 18 year olds don't "think" about consequences like an older adult does. I have diaries/journals that I wrote from age 12-25 and I was a very immature, silly young person and they are embarrassing for me to read today but I keep them because they show my growth and maturity as an individual.
I'll also note I have a cousin who shot and paralyzed someone when he was 17 (he is 4 years older than me). The person was car jacking him and my cousin was "gang associated" because that side of the family, they are basically a gang so all the boys were raised to be a part of that gang - the person car jacking him was of the rival gang. Today he credits that crime and his subsequent punishment for getting him out of that lifestyle. Our uncle who was a drug dealer and had a lot of money, paid for him to get a good lawyer and because of the circumstances of the crime, he was only sentenced to 4 years in a juvenile facility. Initially he was charged as an adult but since this was considered a "self defense" case he was not punished harshly and half the sentence was really about him having an unregistered weapon. While in the juvenile facility he got intense therapy and counseling services and he obtained an associates degree in college. When released, due to his counseling and learning about himself outside the influence of his crack head mother and gang related extended family, he decided to move away from our home town and get out of that environment - which was something he was advised to do in that facility. Today he is a very successful businessman and a great husband/father and has never been in trouble with the law. He had always been a good hearted person but circumstances in his family pushed him to being in bad situations and around dangerous people.
Because I grew up with a lot of people like this, most of whom did not have the good outcome my cousin did, I am not a supporter of treating kids like adults. They are not adults and they often have no control over their environments or haven't learned how to navigate the world they are in. I know at least 10-20 other young people who had similar crime/instances occur where they were sentenced under the "adult" system and are still in prison from when we were teenagers. My cousin is not a burden on society like those other people are. One of my husband's cousins just got out of prison after 20 years for something he "did" when he was 16 - he basically went to the store with a friend and his friend robbed the store and shot/killed the clerk. The cousin didn't know it was going to happen but was also charged with murder and got 25 to life. Because of the SCOTUS decision, his case was reviewed and his sentence was shortened. His mother was also a crackhead and his father had been murdered and he had not decent home life. IMO he would have been better served in the juvenile facility and helped instead of locked away and now sent out in the world with no skills.
12 year-old children are not developmentally able to fully understand the finality of death. Murder is not the appropriate charge.
When I was 12, I understood the finality of death. By then, I'd had attended a couple of funerals and had had several pets, like hamsters and fish die at home. When I was in 4th grade, my uncle would go hunting for bullfrogs to eat. So yes, I knew about death and understood what it means.
Being 12 is on the brink of being a teenager. Many girls start menstruating at that age, and kids start experimenting with sex by then. Being 12 years of age is not being a naive and innocent child, certainly not in our country.
Not an 'accident,' not manslaughter, but straight up murder.
I'm pretty sure kids that age and younger have been shooting and killing each other for ages, but notable is the fact that it appears to have happened in a seemingly normal and average family and not in the inner city.
https://lawnews.tv/examples-of-kids-using-guns-to-defend-themselves/ There are quite a few recent cases of young kids using guns to defend themselves and their families. ... used-mother-gun-to-kill-burglar/?intcmp=trending; 11 yr old defends self and 4 yr old ... 11 Year Old Boy Shot by Home Invaders, Shoots Back with .22 Saving Mom and ... LIFE · ProtectiveLaw.com · SacredHonor.us · TAX."
So according to you people who live in inner cities (i.e. black people) are not "normal" people.... Interesting insight you shared there.
I bet that those "normal" white families have more children killing other children due to them not keeping their firearms secured properly. Usually this is the same reason why it happens to black children in their normal/average families and those normal/average families in inner cities are not "different" from the white suburban families.
Very telling comment though on your personal prejudices and biases and views on normality in regards to people and where they live.
The truth is that most of the "children" who shoot other children are black. (the CDC lists gun deaths thru age 23 as children)
My cousin, a boy I adored more than anyone on the planet in my childhood, stabbed my thigh with a sharp pencil when we were both in grade school because he was angry that I changed the TV channel and wanted to watch another channel. the lead from that pencil is still visible in my thigh. young kids can't control their impulses.
why was this child allowed access to a gun?? this tragedy is a parental failure, not a gun law failure.
Last edited by texan2yankee; 05-06-2019 at 05:03 PM..
https://lawnews.tv/examples-of-kids-using-guns-to-defend-themselves/ There are quite a few recent cases of young kids using guns to defend themselves and their families. ... used-mother-gun-to-kill-burglar/?intcmp=trending; 11 yr old defends self and 4 yr old ... 11 Year Old Boy Shot by Home Invaders, Shoots Back with .22 Saving Mom and ... LIFE · ProtectiveLaw.com · SacredHonor.us · TAX."
Looks like you DON'T CARE about their LIVES!
Quote:
Originally Posted by texan2yankee
My cousin, a boy I adored more than anyone on the planet in my childhood, stabbed my thigh with a sharp pencil when we were both in grade school because he was angry that I changed the TV channel and wanted to watch another channel. the lead from that pencil is still visible in my thigh. young kids can't control their impulses.
why was this child allowed access to a gun?? this tragedy is a parental failure, not a gun law failure.
I repeat! Looks like you DON'T CARE about their LIVES!
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Interesting insight you shared there.
