I think this is great news. Too bad he was found guilty to begin with, though. Though something should have been done, I can't see how society was made better by him sitting around in jail for two years.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:Though something should have been done, I can't see how society was made better by him sitting around in jail for two years.
Well, to put it bluntly, he wasn't able to beat any more little girls to death. I do think that a mental health facility would have been more appropriate and he should never have been tried as an adult. There is no way he was functioning at full mental capacity.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
I can't see how you can say he shouldn't be convicted. He committed the crime. I still think however, that its unreasonable to try juveniles as adults when they aren't given the same rights as adults. The problem with trying them as juveniles though is that they're out by 18. Laws need to be changed.
Posts: 3446 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
Children do not have the same cognitive capabilities as adults. A twelve year old has a very different concept of death and mortality than an eighteen year old. Imprisoning a child for life for a crime committed as a child would be unjust. Yes, the child committed a crime and is morally responsible for it. But that same child is largely unable to comprehend the crime and impact on others and most specifically, the notion of mortality. Once that child reaches adolescence, he or she is more capable of the cognitive abilities and understanding needed to comprehend the crime and/or mortality and morality.
One child commits a horrific act by accidentally killing another. Child is tried as an adult, implying that he had the cognitive capacity of at least an eighteen-year-old. He's convicted as an adult, sent to an adult prison. How is that not horrific in of itself? Now you have two lost lives.
At least with the juvenile justice system, once a child reaches an age where the cognitive ability to comprehend crime and mortality, they get a second go of it, like adults get parole. Only, because it happened in childhood, it's wiped from their records (or sealed, not sure). If they did learn and realize the depth of their wrongs in childhood, they'll move on and become productive members of society.
If we hope for this for the adults in the penal system, what is it to ask the same as the juveniles in the penal system?
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote:Children do not have the same cognitive capabilities as adults. A twelve year old has a very different concept of death and mortality than an eighteen year old. Imprisoning a child for life for a crime committed as a child would be unjust.
There is a problem with this though - there are adults who never progress beyond the cognitive capacities of an average twelve year old. There are a great many who can't match the capacities of an average 16 or 17-year-old (also juveniles). Shouldn't we let these adults off as well, since the same logic applies to them?
What's more, I'd be willing to bet this group of adults is highly overrepresented in our prisons.
Posts: 8120 | Registered: Jul 2000
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quote:Shouldn't we let these adults off as well, since the same logic applies to them?
No, because children still have the potential to gain this cognitive ability through normal development. Adults have passed those developmental stages.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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