USA is the only country with a minimium of democracy where many human rights are continually violated and so clear. In this case are the perpetual prison of people that commited a crime before being 18 years old. How is possible that a child be considered in their full conscience to know what they do when they commit a severe crime and being condemned for their whole life to prison, without revision, and don't believe that they are able to vote. That is not pure hipocresy? For example, the case of the young Jacqueline Montanez who was under 18 years old when she committed a crime, as reports International Amnisty, and now she knows that she will die in prison, because of the punishment of perpetual prison. Also International Amnisty reports other human rights violations like Guantanamo, death penalty and the excessive punishments to minors.
If you don't want to be tried as an adult then don't MURDER like an adult. It's really not that hard to understand.
I just read about the case. She was a 15 year old gang banger who if what I read is true lured another rival gang member into a bathroom with her and then shot him in the head in revenge for another gang killing of one of her gang. I may have a problem with Life for a 15 year old but you aren't going to find a lot of sympathy for her. If after say 25 years she has been a good prisoner and deemed not a threat I think parole should be considered. But she can't be treated as just a juvenile and set free at 21.
The Supreme Court just ruled this last summer that juvenile offenders can't be "automatically" sentenced to life in prison with no parole. The language is tricky because it only bans perfunctory sentences advised by state law, but doesn't prevent a jury from carefully deliberating that such a sentence is appropriate. The opinion did add that a jury must rigoriously scrutinize any mitigating factors and consider the differences between children and adults, particularly when it comes to fully understanding the long term ramifications of taking a human life. You might not have heard about it, so I included a link. I'm in full agreement with this decision. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justic...t-bars-mandatory-life-sentences-for-juveniles
How about you worry about things in Spain ? When they're perfect, you can come back here and (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) about the U.S.
It kind of is. We should just quit being (*)(*)(*)(*)ing hypocrites and let teens drink, smoke, vote, get married, and join the military.
I agree with this, but this happened in the juvenile courts for some time. 18 and 21 were not automatic "free" dates. They could handle this in those courts just as easily and with more appropriate sentencing. I don't want a 15 year old gang banger on the streets at 21. Nor should anyone, but I also don't want 12 year olds being sentenced to life in prison.
I agree with this, but this happened in the juvenile courts for some time. 18 and 21 were not automatic "free" dates. They could handle this in those courts just as easily and with more appropriate sentencing. I don't want a 15 year old gang banger on the streets at 21. Nor should anyone, but I also don't want 12 year olds being sentenced to life in prison.
It's true. America doesn't tolerate gang members very nicely. Tough (*)(*)(*)(*). If you think it's unfair, I encourage you to take a vacation to Mexico.
It is the only country of the world that consider adults children. If you consider them that is adult to murder she is also adult to vote.
Ad-Hominm. So I need that the country where I live be perfect to be able to critizicise other countries? Try to find some hipocresy on me, then we can talk. But if I equally fair with all the countries, why I cannot.
This is a considerable problem indeed. The solution is finally coming up with a system that punishes harsh crimes harshly while still recognizing the age status of the offender. In a lot of states, minors are charged as adults simply because we don't have a system in place to punish minors for things like murder or rape.
A teenager is not a child. They know the difference between right and wrong, and they should be held accountable for their actions. We are not talking about a 5 year old, who does not even realize that they are doing is wrong being sent to prison, we are talking about 16 and 17 year olds who understand their actions fully, and still commit them. If a crime is severe enough, murder, armed robbery, assault, etc....They should be fully treated as an adult and have to face the full consequences of their actions.
I think we adults have a hard time remembering what it was like when we were teenagers, how we didn't have the foggiest clue how the world works, and we were unable to see the longterm consequences of our choices. Teenagers ARE children, and even many 20 somethings are no more sophisticated, but at some point we need to hold people fully accountable for their actions. I've done some terrible, even criminal and terrorist things when I was that age. I'm lucky I wasn't caught and imprisoned and I'm lucky nobody got hurt. That's what it's like to be a teenager. Now when it comes to crimes like murder, rape, armed robbery etc, I'm not saying that those crimes shouldn't be punished harshly, but I don't think that children contemplate a life of imprisonment in remuneration for their crimes like adults do. And one thing is certain, if you take a boy of 17 who committed an awful crime and sentence him to prison until he's 40, he'll come out a different person that that stupid kid that did something terrible. The difference would be like night and day.
Not knowing how the world works and not knowing the difference between right and wrong are two different things. A 16 that understands that a cirme is wrong, and still commits it should not be let off with a slap on the wrist just because someone does not want to hold them accountable. Anyone who is 16 or older, and in rare cases, as young as 13 or 14, should be fully accountable for the things they do. I would agree that giving someone as young as 13 life in prison would be over the top, except in cases of murder, but someone who is 17 or even 16 should not be left off for their age.
If they know the difference between good and bad, they could be able to vote. If they are not adult for that, they are not adult for crimes.
A 16 years old as a child of 6 years old can understand that killing someone can be bad. But both, and even an older person can don't understand the consequences of that. Or even, if they are creation of society, as many times. For example, poverty, destructured family where the father is mistreating the child, as the case for this woman, the punishment has to consider all these factors and try to rehabilate that person, and that person never will get rehabilition if the person in question is killed or imprisoned for life. The perpetual punishment always should be revisable, and change it if the person has really changed. But more when the crime has been done when that person was minor. And I remember you that is hipocrit consider adult a person for something and others not. At least in Europe we are coherents. If you are a minor, and legally a minor is under 18, they are treated as it until that age in every question. In USA not, that is not coherent. Why a minor cannot vote and yes be treated as an adult if he commits a crime? What are the reasons of that. Please argument me that. Because they can kill? That is not an argument, even a child of 3 years old could kill.
And? That is another thing that I don't understand, they are citizens and should have the right to vote as any other, and later you say that you are the country of Freedom, yeah, yes, we see that. And this forum there is a topic about that. But now we are speaking about minors prison and right to vote.
Well, that depends on the state. Some states strip the right to vote after felony conviction. Some don't.
This is a good point. We don't trust them to vote, to smoke cigarettes, or to make the decision to join the military, but they're supposed to be fully accountable for crimes to the extent of sentencing them to life in prison? How do we withhold adult decisions and yet at the same time make them accountable as adults for crimes?
