In the News Where Are You On This One?

Why is our country have the highest number of incarcerated individuals in the world? Because we allow our laws and legal matters be dictated by our emotional investment in the circumstances that surround the laws.

Justice is justice and emotions are emotions, they were never meant to mix or one used to rule the other.

Yvonne,

Unfortunately I see it here in WI all the time. I would assume that it happens everywhere else as well. What I see are emotions dictating how people react to these kinds of things.

Then you hear the same people say that no criminal can be rehabilitated, so according to some, maybe most people agree with that philosophy. Personally I do not. I try to live by the credo that you fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me three times, never again. But this poor kid was literally just that, a kid, and to never have a life ever again is just as cruel as the crime that he committed probably worse.

I heard the mother of the dead boy on the clip, for being a christian woman she is pretty unforgiving. I am not christian, but it burns me up when someone that claims to be christian then goes on to make such condemning statements.

Forgiveness is the only way victims will come to peace with a situation like this.

What an incredible waste of $$ and resources to keep this man--and others like him--in prison for life.

There is a peculiar American view that seems to believe that the commission of a crime means that one forfeits their rights to life and personal safety. This stems from some stupid Utopian view that America could be a nice place if we'd only get rid of the bad people. You can routinely hear from the common people such comments as that killers should fry, that child molesters will get what's coming to them in prison, and that even common criminals get soft sentences. This idea of punishment without limits, while many Americans think it protects them, makes this country a scary place to live in, where a single accusation can ruin a life.

I am for the second amendment, for what it was intended for in the beginning. To keep us from being under a tyrannical state. I am not going to comment on that part cause that is a whole other show.

My take on these subjects usually starts with prevention... Education, education, education. Teach about the guns so anyone can handle them properly, young and old. Teach them about accountability and responsibility (something that I don't believe is taught today) and how consequences can affect an entire life.

Above all teach HISTORY, for those that do not understand history are DOOMED to repeat it.

More than one third of all incarcerated Americans have a legitimate mental illness which, in some way, contributed to their current place of residence. We live in a broken system that does not seek to truly rehabilitate, understand underlying issues, or prepare the incarcerated person for life as a productive citizen upon release. And further, an adolescent's brain is not fully developed and therefore, they physically are incapable of grasping the consequences of their actions, or of the permanence of death. The idea of imprisoning a child for their entire natural life, regardless of the crime they have committed is organized, government regulated torture, in my opinion.

FrontLine should be ashamed of itself for even posing the question in that emotionally biased manner -"Should children..". It should be stated "Should criminals under the ago of 18..". Many of the answers above clearly reflect the idealism of youth, without experience. For example, it is "Phoenix" that allows emotion to override her logic, even while she claims that "emotion" is the problem with our system. Indeed if the law were actually properly separated from this emotional nonsense, this case would not even be heard. Virtually all of the felons here lined up for life would have been justly eligible for the death penalty. This is just another example of an out of control legal system eating away at the foundations of safety and law - namely that people must be protected from violent criminals and that individuals (no matter what the age) must thus be held responsible for their actions. When these actions result in severe harm, unfortunately the punishment will also be. Another example of this perverse bandwagon is Elizabeth's repetition of the latest boondoggle claiming that "criminals are just mentally ill", and need help and therapy. The entire psychiatric establishment can't even show a valid track record of actual success treating regular people, and we all know from years of past experience what happens when we let them make judgments on whether to release sexual predators and murderers - they get fooled and we all have the blood of women and children victims on our hands again. I admire the compassion you all hold, but cannot allow your inexperience and expertise to put my family and others in danger.

I feel for both families involved. In reading the opinions of the bloggers, there is a real lack of understanding of what these "children" go through in the so-called justice system. Perhaps if the shoe had been on the other foot, these people would feel differently. If you were involved in this system - would you feel the same way. Most of these children, do not understand what a "life sentence is, or what a sentence for other crimes means to the rest of their lives.
Shame on us for not looking into these things further. Do some research, talk to parents of incarcerated children, and ask of the victims - how would it feel if it were their children who had commited the crimes.

These tragedies happen frequently in this country . How on earth are guns so available here? Politics and money= NRA strength. Europe and Canada are amazed by us. There is ample EVIDENCE to show that these killings will continue without gun regualtion. There will always be an unstable aggressive type percentage of the population (underlying issues vary)- whether children or adults. And the easy access to weapons will continue to create tragedy . It is particularly tragic when a victim is killed by child perpetrator. Children are neither physically nor mentally/cognitively fully formed. They should NEVER have access to guns. It saddens me to see it continue .
Respectfully Submitted,
Isabelle Foster, LICSW

The law, by its nature, is hard. Unyielding, it demands reparation for what evil a person does. The majority of the people within this blog are crying out for mercy. And indeed, mercy triumphs over judgment.

But the law does not give mercy. Who can provide mercy? Only the Savior Jesus Christ, whom God placed as Lord of all, can bring about a deliverance from the requirement of the law. We ought to stop trying to squeeze out from the law something that cannot come from it.

Furthermore, psychotherapy will not provide true mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation that we need. Only a true pardoning of one's sins from the Ultimate law-giver can grant such a new life. In fact, He does so only because He himself offered the price of blood for the sins of man. Human beings, at best, have come up with ways to inoculate the conscience---via self-help guides, self-pity, self-victimization, self-adoration, self-centered consumerism---all the while failing to clean and renew the mind. People who are ensnared by their own evils, as a result, barely function in society. Rather, we should put aside our pride and yield to the Creator, rather than to the created (= other humans), since it's plainly written in Scripture: "If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is still greater."

God bless you all.

How giving adolescents life without parole is ridiculous. No hope, no incentive to change , no incentive to better oneself, and the waste of life and huge finacial costs.
There has to be a better way

Just like it says in the documentary "Vengeance is not Justice. Vengeance is Vengeance."

I wrote a 15 page long paper on this issue for my senior project after watching this video in my Legal Studies class. I believe that if someone is under 18, they should be tried as a child. Not to say they don't deserve to do time, go through a lot of therapy and have their release pending upon their improvements, and then be watched extremely closely after they are released.
What I'm saying is they deserve life too, but they should pay the consequences for their actions and be ready to have the life they need to live. Especially in the situations in this documentary, they should have looked at the circumstances, not only at the crime. I think mandatory minimums for adolescents aren't the right way to deal with the crimes they've committed.

America, a country that has a 'health care system' that neither cares or is healthy. It is literally disease management and drug distribution, so is it any wonder that we incarcerate more youth than we adopt? There is no money to be made in adopting and caring, but with private prisons and legalized prison labor, some people become rich. The best thing to be said for these poor young people that get locked up is, at least they are not in the armed forces, this country has lost it's way; white man's karma.

What do you expect when a parent can not discipline their own children when the system cries child abuse, its a free for all. Kids are using the system against their parents. I believe if they will not abide by the rules they should face the consequences.

Some of these kids are real monsters and should not be released upon society.

Until we can enforce real reforms in the prison system where inmates receive daily, hours and hours of mental health therapy or brainwashing to make them gentle only then can we look at releasing them.

I believe that the rules on sentencing should be different for Juveniles and that death or life sentences are inappropriate with or without parole.
Th reason is simple if you have to be 18 to decide to be in the military and offer your life potentially in its service, you are saying that this government QED the law and constitution says you are not mature enough to do that unless 18 years old
Too simplistic, I think not.
Regards,
Hodgson.

What I find interesting in this particular case is that the woman's son was/thought he was purchasing a gun. She has no forgiveness for the incarcerated young man and yet her son was perhaps steps from being in his place.

There is great disparity in sentencing in this country. While I wholly support incarceration of those committing crimes, perhaps individual cases should be more closely evaluated for mitigating circumstances.

What about the kids from Dunbar Village who brutally raped, beat, sodomized, and poured chemicals on a woman and her son? Her son was forced by the attackers to have sex with his mother. Should these juveniles be spared life in prison? Are children who beat, raped, and viciously attacked another human being ever hope to be rehabilitated?

The human brain is not even done developing until late adolescence/early adulthood, we are talking early 20's...this is the prefrontal cortex that has to do with thinking, decision making, impulse control, and planning....yet we treat them completely as if they have adult cognitive abilities.
America is a very ironic country: those who proclaim to be Christian and site the bible tend to be the most judgemental, least forgiving,concern themselves least with the poor, and support capital punishment, against health care reform, and worried about only their own self-interests...exact opposite of how Jesus lived. I am Christian but I strive to live it in my values, my vote and my daily actions.

There should be a "maturity test" developed to be able to determine if a juvenile has matured enough in regard to intention/premeditation when committing a crime. I was an english teacher at a middle school for a year and I know how some (most, depending on the culture and societal strata) 14 and 15 year old kids mature a lot faster than then peers. Only by determining the level of maturity on a case-by-case basis, would it be possible to liken a juvenile's mindset to that of a vicious criminal, whose criminal acts are made most reprehensible because of malice aforethought or criminal intent or what have you, concepts that which can only be produced by a mature enough mind. At any rate, life without parole is the most cruel solution one could come up with. Living in a cage with only one hour of sunlight is worst than capital punishment. Technology nowadays would provide total oversight over a convicted criminal (theoretically speaking of course, we know how many "criminals" are actually innocent but wrongly railroaded into the C.J system) aiming toward a total rehabilitation of the individual. Emphasis should be rehabilitation rather than incarceration, for death is better than the latter.

What is missing in this discussion is the responsibility of the parents when their children commit such crimes. All too many parents today are not willing to "finish the job" when their previously sweet little darlings enter into their tween and teen years.

It's truly shocking when their precious kids transform into impulsive, peer-presssured, foul-mouthed, secretive, disobedient, self-absorbed adolescents whose main mission is to separate themselves from all forms of authority including their parents. I know...I am "finishing my own job" of parenting my now 21 year old daughter who attempted to break every household rule, short-change her education, elope from our home, hang out with thugs who dealt and used drugs, alcohol, with violence, and screamed that she hated me on a regular basis. You get the picture.

We saved our daughter by meeting each and every effort she made to thwart our authority by restricting her non-school activities, sitting next to her in each class she cut, and called the police to report her missing each time she didn't come home. I drove by those places she claimed to be at and showed up on her high school campus to check with her teachers and principal when her grades slipped. She didn't get any money she did not earn, did not drive a car unless she contributed to insurance and gas and then promptly took the keys away when she got any infraction with both the rules of the road and those of our household. No cell phone, no internet, no new clothes, no ANYTHING unless she earned it. When her time to graduate high school neared, her belongings were put into plastic bins in the garage and was told that they would placed on the driveway if she failed enroll and attend a full load of college classes on the first day and thereafter.

My husband and I met her insults, screams of fury, and defiance with "we love you too much to see you fail and we won't fail you in the process." However, these past 6 years have been pure hell. This experience left us feeling exhausted, heartbroken, and mentally deflated. Our marriage remains intact because we both were united and dedicated to the task at hand. The good news: we were able to get our "Titanic" daughter to turn and miss the iceberg of disaster.

Extreme circumstances must be met with extreme measures. If parents are held truly responsible for the actions of their dependent kids then they should sit in jail with them, pay the fines and restitutions and fully participate in their kid's rehabilitation. The easy way out is to put the kid in jail and throw away the key rather than rehabilitate both parent and child to restore the family unit.

Money from incarceration would be better spent on restoring fractured, disfunctional, and broken families that focuses on empowering parents and counciling their troubled children. Mental health services are essential here.

I didn't read all of the comments as they were getting away from the main question.
You can't generalize. You have to go case by case. I don't care how stupid some people may think teens are. I remember my teens. I got nervous speeding in a car. I would never think of scamming/robbing somebody, especially carrying a gun that I think I might need. That's just the way I was raised. There were always those bad kids in high school. Some you knew carried drugs in their cars, who knows what else. There is always a bad part of town. It's all environment. It's a person's personal view on how their world works. What makes you think that a teen that commits armed robbery before he graduates is going to be intelligent and reasonable after he gets out of high school and is truly in charge of himself? Stop putting a line at 18 years old. Everyone's childhood still affects their thought process as an adult. If I vandalized someone's house as a kid, either myself or my parent's would have paid for it one way or another. They are not going to put me in therapy for it. They are going to punish me to change my thought process.
Save the debate about whether or not we should have the death penalty or life as punishment for another time. The real debate is if we should punish some of these "kids" like "adults". Yes. Let the court decide.
Lastly, for those who said taking away all the guns will solve the problem needs to look at the drug problem in this country. I don't own a gun, yet. I will in the future. I am in the Army and love long range target shooting. I will never use them for anything else. Criminals will still get a hold of weapons: guns or otherwise. Taking away the gun is just dancing around the root problem. Education and environment is the key.

This is a disgusting waste of time and money. Are we as a society any safer because we are ware housing children at considerable cost.
Matt's mom is in pain, but she is also kind of hateful.

Her son was buying a gun, for what? She could very easily been in a much different position.