Supreme Court rules juvenile life without parole cruel and unusual

ekg said:
what choice is there? I mean, it's a horrible scenario.. but take Cristian Fernandez (sorry, board won't let me post a link yet)... his life was a living hell, I acknowledge that..At about 11 or 12, he raped his 1/2 brother on one or more occasions.. and on a different day, he beat and killed his 2 year old brother..up until he committed his 1st rape of a minor, I wish to God someone had stepped in to save his soul.. but after raping one 5 yro and then killing a 2 yro.. he can't ever live in society again.. even tho he is only 12 at the time.

I say this for 2 reasons..

1.. if he gets 20 years.. he'll spend his most formative years in an atmosphere where violence is even more rampant than what he was already exposed to.. he will literally be 'raised' by the very worst our society has to offer..and at the age of 32, he will be released upon the general public.. If he wasn't a sociopath going in, he damn sure will be coming out..

2.. he's already shown an inability to follow basic societal norms.. do not murder.. I can forgive the rape of the 5 yro, ONLY because it had been done to him,repeatedly, over his short,horrible life and it was all he knew..Maybe.. just maybe, he can be redeemed.. but the rape and murder? of two separate family members? I think he's lost any ability he could have had to live a non-violent and productive life..


As liberals we like to think we have the 'compassion' gene in us that screams "NO, you cannot convict a child for LWOP, that's just inhumane".. the problem is, the world isn't as compassionate or as forgiving.. It's an ugly thought.. it's a horrible decision.. and it's even more of gruesome opinion to utter out loud.. but in our 'secret hearts'.. don't we want this kid removed from society forever? Doesn't letting him out in 20 yrs when he's still very young, dramatically increase the chance for him do the same or worse to our family instead of his own?

I don't know.. I can't believe this is my first post.. HA! But I simply don't know what else to do with these kinds of damaged youths..*shrug*
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Great start and welcome!
 
cawacko said:
Is the punishment really going to be that big of a difference if a 16/17 year old (minor) commits the same murder compared to a 19/20 year old (adult)?
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Maybe they need to revisit the sentencing laws entirely, however, simply giving the courts back the power to provide for parole doesn't guarantee any change in the length of the sentence, just the possibility of it.
 
cawacko said:
I was thinking more in terms of those who father the child out of wedlock and then for the most part play no part in the child's life. So they never married the mother and never parented the child.
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In that case I don't think forcing a parent to befriend their child would be a good idea. :(
 
cawacko said:
The subject of this thread is murder and juvenile punishments. You're going off on kids who beat animals and how parents need to turn them in but it doesn't have any relation to murder. Christie's link mentions serial killers are known to have a history of beating animals but most murders aren't committed by serial killers. The remainder of her link lists crimes people who beat animals as children may commit later in life but it doesn't reference murder.

The waste of time to me is your belief of parents turning in their children to authorities or face possible punishment.
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To cut to the chase... what is the minimum age at which you think children should be tried as adults?
 
ekg said:
what choice is there? I mean, it's a horrible scenario.. but take Cristian Fernandez (sorry, board won't let me post a link yet)... his life was a living hell, I acknowledge that..At about 11 or 12, he raped his 1/2 brother on one or more occasions.. and on a different day, he beat and killed his 2 year old brother..up until he committed his 1st rape of a minor, I wish to God someone had stepped in to save his soul.. but after raping one 5 yro and then killing a 2 yro.. he can't ever live in society again.. even tho he is only 12 at the time.

I say this for 2 reasons..

1.. if he gets 20 years.. he'll spend his most formative years in an atmosphere where violence is even more rampant than what he was already exposed to.. he will literally be 'raised' by the very worst our society has to offer..and at the age of 32, he will be released upon the general public.. If he wasn't a sociopath going in, he damn sure will be coming out..

2.. he's already shown an inability to follow basic societal norms.. do not murder.. I can forgive the rape of the 5 yro, ONLY because it had been done to him,repeatedly, over his short,horrible life and it was all he knew..Maybe.. just maybe, he can be redeemed.. but the rape and murder? of two separate family members? I think he's lost any ability he could have had to live a non-violent and productive life..


As liberals we like to think we have the 'compassion' gene in us that screams "NO, you cannot convict a child for LWOP, that's just inhumane".. the problem is, the world isn't as compassionate or as forgiving.. It's an ugly thought.. it's a horrible decision.. and it's even more of gruesome opinion to utter out loud.. but in our 'secret hearts'.. don't we want this kid removed from society forever? Doesn't letting him out in 20 yrs when he's still very young, dramatically increase the chance for him do the same or worse to our family instead of his own?

I don't know.. I can't believe this is my first post.. HA! But I simply don't know what else to do with these kinds of damaged youths..*shrug*
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Welcome to the board!
 
christiefan915 said:
To cut to the chase... what is the minimum age at which you think children should be tried as adults?
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If a 14 year old commits out right premeditated cold blooded murder I have no problem with trying them as an adult. Hopefully that senario is few and far between.
 
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