Should a Child Offender Be Treated as an Adult?

[KamaAina]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/op-talk/2014/10/24/should-a-child-offender-be-treated-as-an-adult/

The government may recommend he still sit in the back seat of a car, but a 10-year-old boy can be charged as an adult for the homicide of a 90-year-old woman and potentially spend the rest of his life in prison.

Along with Somalia, the United States is one of two countries in the world that have not ratified a United Nations convention that requires countries to have a minimum age to consider a child criminally culpable. According to Amnesty International, it stands alone in sending juveniles to prison for life without the possibility of parole. In some parts of the country children are automatically charged as adults when accused of homicide. Two recent cases have exposed ambiguities in the criminal justice system and drawn criticism from those who question whether the law should ever treat children as adults.

The cases are very different. In one, a 10-year-old Pennsylvania boy who reportedly suffers mental issues repeatedly punched a 90-year-old woman and choked her by pressing her cane against her neck, eventually leading to her death. According to a police statement, the woman, who was in the care of the child’s grandfather, got upset with the boy, which incited his violent reaction. In the other case, a group of teenage football players of Sayreville War Memorial High School, New Jersey, aged 15 to 17, allegedly performed brutal hazing on new members of the team, and several of them now face charges of aggravated sexual assault.

“The thread that ties the two cases is the threat of adult prosecution,” Marsha Levick, the deputy director and chief counsel of the Juvenile Law Center, told Op-Talk. But another thing they have in common, Ms. Levick said, was that “each scenario can be properly managed in the juvenile justice system.”

Somalia?!

[GeorgeGist]

1. No this is just an example of childish adults.

[Journeyman]

2. What is the minimum age established by other countries for criminal culpability? . . .

We stand with Somalia in having not established a minimum age, but what is the minimum age in those parts of the world that have ratified that UN convention? Do they all hold to 18, or is 21 or even 25 considered an adult elsewhere?

[TBF]

8. Here's a wiki article to start -

As someone who has studied child development I would hope for at least 16 in terms of prosecuting as an adult (with juvenile detention until age 18 and attention to mental illness given a big consideration in sentencing if possible).

There are so many kids out there who grow up in horrific environments and if we are looking to rehabilitate folks this is where I would put emphasis.

But to answer your question the Google search I did brought up many white papers, charts, and it all seems to vary widely.

You could start with this wiki chart but it doesn't specify whether they are being tried as a child or adult - and what those different levels may hold in terms of punishment/rehabilitation efforts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_infancy

[pnwmom]

3. No. Period. nt

[Douglas Carpenter]

4. if they are old enough to consent for sex then they are old enough to be tried as adults

One is either legally capable of consent or they are not. A thirteen year old cannot be a victim of statutory rape because they cannot consent and then be culpable as an adult for murder. That is not rational.

[Go Vols]

6. +1

[bigwillq]

5. Yes, in some cases (nt)

[Hortensis]

7. No! Their brains work very differently, immature/childlike. They're not adults.

[Blue_Tires]

9. Depends on the situation and the nature of the crime...

That 10-year-old doesn't have to be tried as an adult, but he DOES need to be in a mental health facility for as long as it takes...

[gratuitous]

10. We should make a rule and stick to it

It's not going to make everyone happy, but we should name an age and stick to it. If it's 18, then it's 18. If it's 16, then it's 16. But no more of this juvenile-tried-as-an-adult stuff. Yes, some of the victims and survivors are going to be pissed. I'm confident I would be pissed, too. But we know far too much about the brain and its development to pretend we don't know what we're doing when it comes to dealing with underage offenders.

[scarystuffyo]

11. That kid sounds like a demon

The football players charge them as adults

[TheKentuckian]

12. Nope. A child is not an adult. If folks think the age of majority is too low then argue that.