14 years old: Too young for life in prison?

[Shadow]

Evan Miller and ****rell Jackson are lifers, condemned at 14 to spend their lives in prison without the possibility of parole for their involvement in separate murders. Their backers say their sentences are cruel and unusual, leaving them without the second chance the young are so often given. They hope the U.S. Supreme Court agrees.

Next Tuesday, the court will hear arguments in their cases and its ruling could have far-reaching effects. More than 2,200 people nationwide have been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for crimes they committed as juveniles -- defined as 17 or younger -- according to the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala., a civil rights group that represents Miller and Jackson.

The group hopes the companion cases will be another victory for juvenile criminals, who have found some relief before the Supreme Court over the past seven years. In 2005, the court abolished executions for juvenile offenders. Then, two years ago, the court ruled that it is unconstitutional to impose life sentences on juveniles convicted of crimes that do not involve homicide.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/15/10670418-14-years-old-too-young-for-life-in-prison

Any thoughts on whether or not kids as young as 14 who commit ctimes should serve life sentances?

[cadet]

My Bro's 14, if he killed somebody, I'd hope he knew what he was doing. just cause your a "juvenile" doesn't mean your a complete moron and don't know what your doing.
I'm going to be honest, if i saw a kid kill somebody, I'd want him/her in jail for life, cause they're obviously screwed up.

Being young is no excuse for murder. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

And hell, i think society has lost what adulthood is, 16 year old's can get married, (With consent), 14 is only a little younger then that.

kids are not dumb, just cause your not an adult, doesn't mean you don't know anything. Sometimes, i believe kids know better then a lot of the adults out there.

[revelarts]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE7mhZgME2k

i don't know

[fj1200]

Any thoughts on whether or not kids as young as 14 who commit ctimes should serve life sentances?

Short answer: It depends. It seems about 50% of the cases listed should serve life and the other half not. I wonder if the juries/judges had little choice in sentencing options.

[jimnyc]

Maybe too young for the death penalty, but I have no issue at all with a 14yr old MURDERER to receive a life sentence. At the age of 14, unless you're mentally incompetent, that's old enough to know that murdering someone is wrong and that person is gone forever.

[DragonStryk72]

Maybe too young for the death penalty, but I have no issue at all with a 14yr old MURDERER to receive a life sentence. At the age of 14, unless you're mentally incompetent, that's old enough to know that murdering someone is wrong and that person is gone forever.

and the thing is, they're talking murder, not manslaughter, which would speak to an accident. With murder you have to prove intent. In this instance, yes, murder is special.

[jimnyc]

and the thing is, they're talking murder, not manslaughter, which would speak to an accident. With murder you have to prove intent. In this instance, yes, murder is special.

Suppose you're a parent of a 14yr old boy. You get a call one day, only to find out that your son has been murdered at school. The other boy, also 14yrs old, gets a life sentence for his crimes. 20 years after the fact, you get a call from the district attorney telling you that perhaps the murderer will be set free sometime soon, since he was only 14 when he committed murder, and they say he deserves a "second chance".

Does your boy get set free? Does your boy get a second chance?

But the boy 3 grades ahead of them who is 18, who committed murder - no second chances for him, too damn old!

[DragonStryk72]

Suppose you're a parent of a 14yr old boy. You get a call one day, only to find out that your son has been murdered at school. The other boy, also 14yrs old, gets a life sentence for his crimes. 20 years after the fact, you get a call from the district attorney telling you that perhaps the murderer will be set free sometime soon, since he was only 14 when he committed murder, and they say he deserves a "second chance".

Does your boy get set free? Does your boy get a second chance?

But the boy 3 grades ahead of them who is 18, who committed murder - no second chances for him, too damn old!

Yeah, that's sort of the problem. At what point are they capable of understanding the consequences of their actions, and why is it that 15 seconds before that, they aren't? That's sort of the thing with my argument that the 21 drinking age is stupid, since the age of all your other rights is achieved at 18, including smoking.

[Gaffer]

They can be paroled as soon as the victim is returned to life.

[Jess]

Maybe too young for the death penalty, but I have no issue at all with a 14yr old MURDERER to receive a life sentence. At the age of 14, unless you're mentally incompetent, that's old enough to know that murdering someone is wrong and that person is gone forever.

Absolutely - at 14 (unless you are incompetent, as Jimmy said above), you know that murder is wrong. Period.

The issue of that other person being gone forever is somewhat debatable, depending on how one is raised. Some kids don't have a realistic grip on death, whether that is lack of personal experience with it or the fact that in movies and video games, people come back from what would actually be fatal wounds, injuries, etc., I don't know. Even given that, one would think that the reality and finality of someone being dead would occur by age 14.

[fj1200]

Absolutely - at 14 (unless you are incompetent, as Jimmy said above), you know that murder is wrong. Period.

The issue of that other person being gone forever is somewhat debatable, depending on how one is raised. Some kids don't have a realistic grip on death, whether that is lack of personal experience with it or the fact that in movies and video games, people come back from what would actually be fatal wounds, injuries, etc., I don't know. Even given that, one would think that the reality and finality of someone being dead would occur by age 14.

A 14-year old, or any high school kid, is not known for thinking out the long-term consequences. Some of the examples in the article were appalling that a kid would do something like that versus one example of the kid who was a lookout essentially. I don't think that kid should get life.

[logroller]

A 14-year old, or any high school kid, is not known for thinking out the long-term consequences. Some of the examples in the article were appalling that a kid would do something like that versus one example of the kid who was a lookout essentially. I don't think that kid should get life.
At 18 I wasn't thinking about long-term consequences either; (sometimes I still don't:smoke:). I've always been a strong believer in do the crime, do the time...andFWIW, I've met some pretty dumb adults in my life...just saying-- on its face, age isn't a mitigating factor IMO.

FYI -- I was on a jury and found a 15 year-old guilty of murder 1, 25+1 years-- for bludgeoning his mother to death. Age played no part in my consideration. Do the crime, do the time!

How old is 15, really? --
http://youtu.be/75XKGVwGEt4

[darin]

Our community is dealing with that stuff now:


Family members say a 14-year-old boy shot his mother to death as she was sleeping early today because he was mad she wouldn't let him hang out with friends.
...
Roberts said Tamiko Robinson had been refusing to allow her son to have girls over at the house or spend time with a group of boys his uncle believes were affiliated with a gang.

Roberts said the teen ran away last week and was gone for four days, apparently staying with a relative. He returned home over the weekend and was upstairs sleeping prior to the shooting.

"He said his mother won't let him have friends, he said his mother won't let him bring his girlfriends over, his mother won't let him stay out until 11 o'clock at night," Roberts said. "He's 14 years old."

Roberts said he arrived after the shooting to find the living room covered with blood, and he saw bloody footprints.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120227/NEWS02/120227043/14-year-old-boy-shoots-mom-in-Detroit

So yeah - 100% life in prison. NO chance of parole. In fact, maybe capital case? That should be the only debate point - NOT life in prison.


As far as Chappelle? He's a comedy GENIUS. I show some of his stuff to my kids; mostly his making-fun-of-racism stuff. :)

[logroller]

Our community is dealing with that stuff now:



So yeah - 100% life in prison. NO chance of parole. In fact, maybe capital case? That should be the only debate point - NOT life in prison.


As far as Chappelle? He's a comedy GENIUS. I show some of his stuff to my kids; mostly his making-fun-of-racism stuff. :)

I think doing the time is a necessary part of the punishment in all but the most extreme cases= not merely egregious, but incomprehensible. For example, murdering an entire family (or attempting to) for reasons unconnected all the victims; or multiple violent acts against the same person, like imprisonment, torture and forcible rape-- behavior where no one reason, beyond complete disregard for morality (right and wrong), could justify the action.

[fj1200]

At 18 I wasn't thinking about long-term consequences either; (sometimes I still don't:smoke:). I've always been a strong believer in do the crime, do the time...andFWIW, I've met some pretty dumb adults in my life...just saying-- on its face, age isn't a mitigating factor IMO.

FYI -- I was on a jury and found a 15 year-old guilty of murder 1, 25+1 years-- for bludgeoning his mother to death. Age played no part in my consideration. Do the crime, do the time!

How old is 15, really? --

I was thinking the circumstances. The kid that Chappelle referenced about the pile driver... not a life crime and neither is standing watch outside. But bludgeon your parents then you're going away.

[logroller]

I was thinking the circumstances. The kid that Chappelle referenced about the pile driver... not a life crime and neither is standing watch outside. But bludgeon your parents then you're going away.

More importantly...its OK to piss on the whole lot of 'em. :coffee: