Anyone against children being tried as an adult. A child is a child is a child... if hes tried as an adult then he should have adult privileges IE vote, smoke, drink etc...
Anyone against this hypocrisy, anyone think it should be illegal?
2007-04-24 11:57:25 · 15 answers · asked by iceblendedmochajavo 5 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
It really depends on the child in question and the crime commited.
Should a 6 year old be charged with vehicular manslaughter if hes playing in his parents car and slips the car into neutral and it rolls over some one and kills them? no, it was an accident, at that age the child might not have known better.
11 years later if that same kid takes his learners permit or even licence and goes speeding down the road and kills some one? Sure he knew better.
Minors are any one under the age of 18. a 17 year old who stabs someone to death knows better and should be tried like an adult.
I think what it really comes down to is could the "child" have known better? Was it simply an accident of youth? Can they learn that their behaviour is wrong with the statuets in place for minors?
2007-04-24 12:11:35 · answer #1 · answered by Hunterofthetwilight 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
So the two kids who were 11 and 13 at the time they shot up their school in Jonesboro, were correct to be tried as kids. Even though that 11 year old said he didnt regret doing it, that he was happy and had fun doing it, he shouldnt have been tried as an adult? Incase you dont know, these kids are out of jail now, they were released on their 18th birthdays. But Kip Kinkle who did the same thing when he was 14, and was tried as an adult, he shouldve been released when he was 18 as well?
Also did you ever find it interesting that a 17 year old can go and die, which they do, for their country, but they still cant get a tattoo, smoke, drink, etc. The rule is that if a person, age doesnt matter, knows the actions they take and know the consequences, then they are of an adult mind. I think they should allow kids to be put to death for things like murder, I think it would be good for the country.
2007-04-24 12:50:58 · answer #2 · answered by David K 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The reason they do this is because some professionals evulate the person that has committed the crime and they can tell if the individual will become a repeat offender and they look at the crime. When a crime is so violent and the child shows signs of repeating the offense they charge the person as an adult. This is set up to protect the law abiding people in the Country. I bet that if they did not lock the kid up for life but slapped his hands and he was out and killed you or a loved one in your family you would be singing a different tune. Dangerous people have to be locked up and this is the only way around it. There was a time when the youth of our Nation did not even think of doing such terrible crimes, but because of absent fathers, and the system that takes the signs out of our public buildings that say Don't kill, Don't steal, etc,. our children are left to self govern and they do a very poor job of it. There are too many drug dealers out there dragging our children into a bad addiction, gangs that actually show more love than the parents, and schools saying that there is no absolute right or wrong. It is a society that we have created and now we are just doing the best to curb the murders and to keep innocent people safe. It may not be totally right, but when you have no other choice, then I say anyone that has the capibility of murder needs to be put behind bars like an animal, I don't care what age you are. Thou shall not Kill!
2007-04-24 12:09:40 · answer #3 · answered by gigi 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A kid at my school raped a girl at the movies. He was 15 when he did it and the girl came to me. I didn't know what to do other than take her to the hospital and get a rape kit done. She wouldn't tell me who it was. Then finally three months after her test was taken the DNA came back positive for this guy at school. I told my boyfriend about it and he got angry b/c we both knew the guy and were friends with the girl. I told my father, who is a MD State police Officer, and he took on the case. the kid wasn't in school the next day and my dad hadn't found him. Then i went shopping with some friends and their boyfriends when i saw him walking out of hot topic. I told my boyfriend and we all followed him. He just walked around like it was nothing. But i had gotten on the phone to dad telling him where to find him and to have someone sent here right away. When the mall security asked him for ID he ran right towards us. My boyfriend and the other guys tackled him and held him down. He wasn't charged as an adult because he was 15. When he got a lesser sentence he was out of Juvie within the year. He did it again. This time the girl didn't live. My school and town signed a petition to have him charged as an adult. So he was and still hasn't seen the light of day.
I think that if you are stupid enough to do something that bad, you should be locked away. Screw political correctness. People ought to be punished for the way that they act. You get what you put in and people get what they deserve. I'm 17. If i did something like manslaughter, reckless endangerment or other such things i'd expect to be charged as an adult. It would be an insult not to.
2007-04-24 12:15:17 · answer #4 · answered by juniorteen312005 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that all kids " teenagers" should be given one chance, i.e. we all did things that we got away with. If a kid steals a CD from wal mart then he should be arrested, spend the night in jail and have some fear put into them. They should also make restitution thru community service or work program. However, if the kid is a punk and repeatedly gets arrested for crimes, then yes, he should be tried as an adult. Obviously a slap on the hand and community service is not teaching the kid a lesson and he has no regards to rules and laws. No they should not be given the right to vote , drink etc , that has to be earned with age and wisdom.
2007-04-24 12:23:41 · answer #5 · answered by vivib 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ok so what your saying is the menendez brothers should have been thrown in a juvenile detention center for 2 years.....or a kid that takes a gun to school and shoots 10 classmates? most states have a minimum age where a child can be tried as an adult for a serious crime....usually 13 i believe, most states a child cant even be held responsible for their actions if they are under 6....and you say that if they are tried they should get adult priveleges.....last time i checked convicted felons sitting on death row couldnt vote, smoke or drink so i dont think age really matters. i mean seriously we cant draw a clear line and say if you are under 18 your a child when it comes to this..otherwise every 17 year old out there that has issues will go around killing and raping everyone in site because they know there are no implications for the crime.
2007-04-24 12:20:14 · answer #6 · answered by CRmac 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
What is your definition of a child? Is there an age limit where someone becomes an adult and a few days before they were a child? If a child can not vote, smoke, drink, etc. then they are immune from prosecution and punishment for crimes. When is someone responsible for their actions? At what age do they suddenly become cognizant of the results of what they have done? It is obvious that we do not sentence children to death for murder, but do they get to go home scott free? Just because someone can not buy liquor does not mean they can not be treated as an adult for their criminal acts and no I do not think that is hypocrisy.
2007-04-24 12:05:17 · answer #7 · answered by lestermount 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
No...we don't try children as adults for every crime..only the serious ones such as murder. And even then we have limits...for example in NC you have to be over 13 I believe to be charged as an adult.
So you are arguing that a person who commits murder at 14 should be given the right to drink and smoke and vote...because they have sure proven they are as mature as an adult by killing someone.
There is no hipocracy....there is a certain point where a child should know right from wrong...if a child steals a candy bar....so what....slap on the wrist...when a kid kills and old couple in cold blood and then tells the judge he would do it again*...we should not punish this kid as much as we can?
* True case in Cincinnati, OH last year...a 14 year old kid killed an 80 year old couple over 15 dollars and then told the judge he didn't regret it and will do it again if another person resists.
2007-04-24 12:04:15 · answer #8 · answered by Dr. Luv 5 · 3⤊ 2⤋
This is a canard foisted upon unthinking citizens by a judicial system that doesn't want to toughen up the Juvenile Justice System for fear that their own children might then be subject to harsher punishment - they don't care about the other people's children.
(Ever notice that there never are any statistics published by newspapers regarding just who is and isn't treated as adults in these travesties of justice?! The people running/owning the newspapers have children they don't want subject to an enhanced Juvenile Justice System - same with the media and with almost everyone else with money.)
2007-04-24 12:05:34 · answer #9 · answered by Ben 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I understand your concern, but some of the "youths" who are tried as adults have rap sheets a mile long. Can you really consider someone who has been stealing, mugging, etc for years to be a youth even if they are only 16 years old?
It is an imperfect system in an imperfect world.
(And don't you think that some of these "children" are smoking & drinking & doing drugs that are illegal at all ages?)
2007-04-24 12:07:11 · answer #10 · answered by tigglys 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋