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Should an 11 year old ever be tried as an adult?

Should an 11 year old ever be tried as an adult?

  • Yes, this particular young man is a perfect example

    Votes: 12 20.3%
  • No, never.

    Votes: 31 52.5%
  • The justice system needs another alternative for extremely young, potentially dangerous offenders

    Votes: 11 18.6%
  • Other, please explain

    Votes: 5 8.5%

  • Total voters
    59

MyOwnDrum

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Here's the case: FOXNews.com - Adult Trial for Boy in Death of Pa. Woman, Fetus

They are trying this boy as an adult. If you go to the article, you'll see a photo of the boy.

An 11 year old is very young. At 11 most kids haven't even started puberty. How can a child that young be considered an adult? Is this kid any more unreformable than many young thugs? What he allegedly did was horrible, but he is not anywhere near adulthood.
 
Here's the case: FOXNews.com - Adult Trial for Boy in Death of Pa. Woman, Fetus

They are trying this boy as an adult. If you go to the article, you'll see a photo of the boy.

An 11 year old is very young. At 11 most kids haven't even started puberty. How can a child that young be considered an adult? Is this kid any more unreformable than many young thugs? What he allegedly did was horrible, but he is not anywhere near adulthood.

I would say no, but I think we need to hold the standard a bit closer. We have juvenile and adult court systems and there's supposed to be addressed by age. I don't think you should ever try a minor as an adult, no matter how heinous the crime. It's why we made the distinction in the first place. Either have it or don't. Even though the crime is sever, I don't think it's proper especially in this case of an 11 year old to try him as an adult.
 
Unless affected by some level of mental retardation, an 11 year old brain is fully aware of the conceptuality of right and wrong.

This kid should be tried as an adult.

Prison has nothing to do with reform. It has to do with punishment. If that was the case, crimes with excessively high rates of recidivism such as child molestation would be life-sentence crimes after the first conviction.

If laws like that were enforced, I would've gone out a week before my 18th birthday and robbed several banks, buried the money somewhere, and went to juvy for a few days.
 
Unless affected by some level of mental retardation, an 11 year old brain is fully aware of the conceptuality of right and wrong.
.....

You falsify this claim by making it.
 
I think that those under the age of 12 who commit a heinous crime should be taken to undergo psychiatric treatment for a time. They need to undergo proper socialization. For those who are impossible to socialize and are proven to be a danger to society, I think they should be locked up in a secure community where they have a pretty free reign within it but are not allowed to go outside it. That way they can live in a protected and structured environment without the risk of being a danger to anyone.
 
Unless affected by some level of mental retardation, an 11 year old brain is fully aware of the conceptuality of right and wrong.

This kid should be tried as an adult.

Prison has nothing to do with reform. It has to do with punishment. If that was the case, crimes with excessively high rates of recidivism such as child molestation would be life-sentence crimes after the first conviction.

If laws like that were enforced, I would've gone out a week before my 18th birthday and robbed several banks, buried the money somewhere, and went to juvy for a few days.

There's a big difference in the whys and wherefores of what an 11-year-old does and what a 17-year-old does.
 
Unless affected by some level of mental retardation, an 11 year old brain is fully aware of the conceptuality of right and wrong.

An 11 year old brain is not the same as an adult brain. Often the higher orders of morality don't develop until the teens. Children can't understand abstract thoughts the same as an adult or comprehend the world they are in. Now, should a kid know it's wrong to murder at 11? I'd say yes, if for nothing else than understanding direct punishment upon them. Still, at the same accord a child is a child and we can't be prosecuting them as adults since they are not adults.
 
Manc Skipper said:
You falsify this claim by making it.

I'll tell Piaget and a plethora of other psychologists and neurophysicists how you disagree with them.

I'll adopt the liberal view - set all criminals free or give some BS explanation as to why they do things and "rehabilitate" them with a stern talking-to.
 
If he isn't treated as an adult in any other respect, why should this be any different?
 
I don't get this...if you do an adult crime, you deserve an adult punishment. Justice is blind to gender, race, and hopefully age as well.
 
I don't get this...if you do an adult crime, you deserve an adult punishment. Justice is blind to gender, race, and hopefully age as well.

Really? Which crimes are not "adult?"
 
I don't get this...if you do an adult crime, you deserve an adult punishment. Justice is blind to gender, race, and hopefully age as well.

But our laws specifically have age related punishments involved, so it's not. And thus we need to abide by that.
 
I don't get this...if you do an adult crime, you deserve an adult punishment. Justice is blind to gender, race, and hopefully age as well.

A child doesn't commit crimes for adult reasons, however. That's a big difference.
 
Really? Which crimes are not "adult?"

Capital crimes, such as murder, kidnapping, etc. If a prosecutor can show malice aforethought, for murder in the first degree, or show that the child acted with purpose. If that is the case, give them what we give the worst of our society; they'll soon be in that category anyhow.
 
A child doesn't commit crimes for adult reasons, however. That's a big difference.

Good point. Lets wait for the little murderer to form those thoughts, and kill some more people. Then we can try him as an adult :roll:
 
You are just as indefensible if you commit a crime for "adult reasons". Whether you came home early from work and saw some dude tapping your wife or daddy took away your X-box, it leads to the same destination. The journey is unimportant.

On the bright side, people who stand up for kids like this are the reason why I can youtube search kids in high school beating up and stabbing each other for some laughs after a rough day. After all, little Timmy just needs a "time out". Yeah. That'll work.
 
But our laws specifically have age related punishments involved, so it's not. And thus we need to abide by that.

And yet we see plenty of children, or at least minors, being tried and convicted as adults. I think a few have been put on death row, but I'm not sure about that part.

As such, our legal system can and has given adult punishments to minors, for committing crimes.
 
Good point. Lets wait for the little murderer to form those thoughts, and kill some more people. Then we can try him as an adult :roll:

Men who commit physical violence on women can go to jail for assault and battery. So does that mean that a little boy who smacks and fights with his sister should go to jail for that crime too?
 
And yet we see plenty of children, or at least minors, being tried and convicted as adults. I think a few have been put on death row, but I'm not sure about that part.

As such, our legal system can and has given adult punishments to minors, for committing crimes.

Just because a government can or has done something doesn't mean it's right for them to do it.
 
Men who commit physical violence on women can go to jail for assault and battery. So does that mean that a little boy who smacks and fights with his sister should go to jail for that crime too?

If he kills her, he should definitely be sent to jail or put on death row, IMO. If he simply hurts his sister, of course depending on the severity of her injuries, either his parents can handle it, or he can be put in juvenile hall if he is a repeat offender.

Children should be understood, and they should get lesser punishments for some crimes; murder is not one of those.
 
samsmart said:
Men who commit physical violence on women can go to jail for assault and battery. So does that mean that a little boy who smacks and fights with his sister should go to jail for that crime too?

1. Go to google.com

2. Enter "mens rea" in the search.

3. Read.
 
Just because a government can or has done something doesn't mean it's right for them to do it.

Then go ahead and take that to the Supreme Court, see how far you get with cases of when a child takes his neighbors, gags and ties them with rope, and then drowns them, after ransacking their house.

I'll see if I can find the specific link for that case. The murderer was 17 when he committed the crimes.
 
I think it's wrong to try them as adults, because, well, they're not... They may understand the difference between right and wrong, but they aren't thinking like adults yet. They're not fully in control of their feelings, their actions and the potential consequences.

That said, I'm all for locking up the ones who commit the most heinous crimes such as the one in the OP or the James Bulger murder case in the UK. Some of these kids should clearly be removed from society. I kinda like samsmart's idea of putting them in some kind of secure community where they can continue their education and be monitored by psychologists, maybe even get a job on site later on.
 
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