• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Should these teens be tried as adults

Should the 15 and 16 year old also be tried as adults

  • yes and throw away the key

    Votes: 72 87.8%
  • no, they deserve a second chance

    Votes: 10 12.2%

  • Total voters
    82
Not if you think children and teens are on equal par with adults.

They aren't as developed but they can be on par...
 
Yes, unless it's a serial killer. They are an unusual and special case.

So what if this kid had shot and killed another dozen people that day? DP?
 
So what if this kid had shot and killed another dozen people that day? DP?

You can kill multiple people and not be considered a serial killer. A serial killer has very special characteristics. They usually will not kill 15 people in one day. That is more characteristic of a mass murderer.
 
They aren't as developed but they can be on par...

I think that is rare. Most teens are not. I'm thinking of my son and his friends. Even at 17/18 years, they are still quite immature in many ways.
 
You can kill multiple people and not be considered a serial killer. A serial killer has very special characteristics. They usually will not kill 15 people in one day. That is more characteristic of a mass murderer.

Whatever... what if the kid killed random little children over the course of a couple years then... Death Penalty?

I think that is rare. Most teens are not. I'm thinking of my son and his friends. Even at 17/18 years, they are still quite immature in many ways.

I am quite immature in many ways... can I get away with targeting a guy and blasting him dead on the street??
 
Whatever... what if the kid killed random little children over the course of a couple years then... Death Penalty?



I am quite immature in many ways... can I get away with targeting a guy and blasting him dead on the street??

Why are you going off on this tangent? This is not what happened. You are not going to change my mind about killing kids. Sorry.
 
You can kill multiple people and not be considered a serial killer. A serial killer has very special characteristics. They usually will not kill 15 people in one day. That is more characteristic of a mass murderer.

I believe that would be labeled a spree killer.
 
Come to think of it, I don't think I actually became an adult until I was at least 25. I was quite immature and I still am, but I certainly am capable of making MUCH better decisions, I know a lot more, and I have more empathy and sympathy for others. Life isn't all about "me" anymore, and I fear consequences much more.

If any of you were honest, you would be able to admit that there are CLEAR differences in yourselves from when you were teens compared to how you are as adults.
 
Why are you going off on this tangent? This is not what happened. You are not going to change my mind about killing kids. Sorry.

I am setting up parameters. I am trying to understand if there are any situations where you would support such an action.
 
If any of you were honest, you would be able to admit that there are CLEAR differences in yourselves from when you were teens compared to how you are as adults.

I think that we ALL admit that. The thing that you aren't getting or acknowledging is that "kids" can and do make extremely rational, logical and "adult" decisions every day. Taking a gun out, targeting a person and then pulling the trigger and attempting to get away is clearly the sign of a "kid" (person) that logically thought out a situation and acted on it. This is not as I said, a kid acting immaturely and then killing a person on accident. This isn't a kid punching another one, putting him in a coma where he dies or driving to fast for fun and killing a person. Why wont you differentiate the differences?
 
I believe that would be labeled a spree killer.

This is some confusing territory we're crossing into now! ;)

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the general definition of spree killer is a person (or more than one person) who commits two or more murders without a cooling-off period; the lack of a cooling-off period marking the difference between a spree killer and a serial killer. The category has, however, been found to be of no real value to law enforcement, because of definitional problems relating to the concept of a "cooling-off period".[2] Serial killers commit clearly separate murders, happening at different times. Mass murderers are defined by one incident, with no distinctive time period between the murders.[2]

How to distinguish a spree killer from a mass murderer, or from a serial killer is subject to considerable controversy, and the term is not consistently applied, even within the academic literature. For example, The Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment, lists five different categories of spree killers and cites Mark O. Barton as an example for the second one.[3] He is also noted with other mass murderers, such as Patrick Sherrill, in the respective entry about mass murder.[4] In The Anatomy Of Motive, John E. Douglas cites Charles Starkweather and Andrew Cunanan as examples of spree killers,[5] while Jack Levin calls Starkweather a mass murderer[6] and Cunanan a serial killer.[7]

In Controversial Issues in Criminology, Fuller and Hickey write that "[t]he element of time involved between murderous acts is primary in the differentiation of serial, mass, and spree murderers", later elaborating that spree killers "will engage in the killing acts for days or weeks" while the "methods of murder and types of victims vary". Andrew Cunanan is given as an example for spree killing, while Charles Whitman is mentioned in connection with mass murder, and Jeffrey Dahmer with serial killing.[8]

Douglas explains that the identity of a serial killer is generally unknown until he is caught, and the mass murderer's identity is learned only after he has committed his crime. The identity of the spree killer, on the other hand, usually becomes known by police while his spree continues, and he is sought as a fugitive.[9]

Another term, rampage killer, has sometimes been used to describe spree killers, but it does not differentiate between mass murderers and spree killers.
 
I think that we ALL admit that. The thing that you aren't getting or acknowledging is that "kids" can and do make extremely rational, logical and "adult" decisions every day. Taking a gun out, targeting a person and then pulling the trigger and attempting to get away is clearly the sign of a "kid" (person) that logically thought out a situation and acted on it. This is not as I said, a kid acting immaturely and then killing a person on accident. This isn't a kid punching another one, putting him in a coma where he dies or driving to fast for fun and killing a person. Why wont you differentiate the differences?

Taking a gun out and shooting someone is in no way a rational, logical adult decision. It is the complete opposite.
 
I am setting up parameters. I am trying to understand if there are any situations where you would support such an action.

I can't see myself ever desiring the death penalty for any child under the age of 16. Do you think it's okay to execute mentally challenged people who commit a murder?
 
Taking a gun out and shooting someone is in no way a rational, logical adult decision. It is the complete opposite.

Yet adults make the same mistake everyday...
 
Yet adults do it every day...thousands of times.

Yes, so? Just because an adult does a criminal act does not make it an adult behavior.
 
What about life without parole for kids/teens?
 
Yet adults make the same mistake everyday...

You said the same exact thing as the other guy. Just because adults don't always make rational decisions means nothing.
 
Taking a gun out and shooting someone is in no way a rational, logical adult decision. It is the complete opposite.

Woah... what in the HELL! Are you kidding me?

Judge, I killed the man. I wanted his money so I walked up to him, took out my gun and shot him in the face. I took his money and tried to hide from the cops. I knew what I was doing. I planned it.

Well Mr 40 Year-Old. It certainly sounds like an irrational, illogical child like decision that you made.

No Sir Your Honor. I planned it knowing full well what I was doing.

Again Mr 40 Year-Old... no, your decision was not logical and was child like.

:lol:
 
What about life without parole for kids/teens?

Depending upon the crime, I'm okay with that. In this case, with the 15-year-old, I'd like to know a bit more about him, his past, his upbringing, his education, etc.
 
You said the same exact thing as the other guy. Just because adults don't always make rational decisions means nothing.

No, I said what I said, not what anyone else posted...
 
Woah... what in the HELL! Are you kidding me?

Judge, I killed the man. I wanted his money so I walked up to him, took out my gun and shot him in the face. I took his money and tried to hide from the cops. I knew what I was doing. I planned it.

Well Mr 40 Year-Old. It certainly sounds like an irrational, illogical child like decision that you made.

No Sir Your Honor. I planned it knowing full well what I was doing.

Again Mr 40 Year-Old... no, your decision was not logical and was child like.

:lol:

Goodness! Just because an adult commits a crime does not classify it as a rational or an adult decision. LOL!
 
Back
Top Bottom