




Yet another reason to rid ourselves of the travesty we call the "juvenile justice system". The law applies equally to all people and should carry the same punishment, regardless of age.
I'm sure some of our members will disagree with me. Go on, neg away. You know you want to...


No one said anything about leaving children to their own devices but if a person commits a crime then they deserve to be punished. If a 10 year old is convicted of first degree murder then the prosecution has shown that that person acted with pre-meditation and malice aforethought, both of which are "adult" ways of thinking. Not punishing that person who commited the crime is disrespectful to both the victim and society as a whole.
%u3000
Physiologically, children's brains are different than those of an adult. That does not mean that the mind of a child is incapable of forming the intent and planning required to murder someone. These cases shown in the video clearly disprove any notion that children are the innocent, benevolent beings who are incapable of the commiting the most heinous acts possible against another human being. Children can kill. Children can plan to kill. Children can understand the consequences of their actions. These monsters are prove of that.
%u3000
Eliminating the juvenile justice system does not mean that there will not be cases of children commiting crimes which they do not understand. Rather than treating all children as if they are intellectually incapable of understanding the relatively simple concept of murder the law should view children as being capable of understanding their actions. In cases where the child is not capable of understanding their actions then the trial would procede in the same manner that trials of mentally retarded adults procede.
This will simultaneously simplify the legal system ( by eliminating the need for specialization in juvenile law ) , ensure greater equality ( by reasserting the fact that all people are created equally and viewed as equals in the eyes of the law, regardless of uncontrollable factors such as age ) , and guarentee that justice is always administered for the victim(s) of a crime.
So would you say that a developmentally disabled adult is not equal to a "normal" adult? If a person can form the concepts of pre-meditation and malice aforethought ( as these children depicted in the video did ) then why can they not understand the consequences of their actions and be held as equally responsible for them as someone who has reached an arbitrary age?
I understand that children are different than adults. Extrapolating that difference into inequality ( which is what the juvenile justice system is ) however is a disservice to both the children and the adults who protect them.
Then our world truly has no hope at all...
I didn't neg you by the way.
