This video is very sad and almost made me cry to see such young 13 14 yo get sentenced to life with out parole . http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=0gTJgwpcs_Y

Believe it or not,but with political power in your hands in real life,you too will feel like Niko Bellic--feeling to be capable to do anything,unquestioned.

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First,let me say that I am completely against children in a normal prison. It is cruel in every way since no child should grow up in a prison, regardless of what he has done.

However, what this video doesn't show is what they did. Dominic Culpepper for example clubbed a girl and her mother to death. That's a horrible crime and it would be wrong to put such a person in a juvenile prison with juvenile thiefs and robbers. Unfortunately, these offender balance between two systems. You have the normal prisons, which are no place for them in my view. On the other hand you got the juvenile prisons but that's not an alternative either like I said. Building seperate prisons would be to costly I think.

How is the US even allowed to disregard the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child btw? For example, a child has a right to spare time and hobbies so how would that be guaranteed in a prison?

Here in Belgium, this is only possible for minors between 16-18 who are recidivists or for first time offenders with charges of murder/manslaughter. Also, the maximum punishment is 30 years. This, to me, seems like a fair system.

First,let me say that I am completely against children in a normal prison. It is cruel in every way since no child should grow up in a prison, regardless of what he has done.

I strongly disagree, and think that teenagers with a reasonable degree of intelligence need to be prosecuted as adults in some cases. Despite US law saying 18 years old is a "legal" adult, some people are fully mentally and physically developed by that age. It should be a case by case basis.

I strongly disagree, and think that teenagers with a reasonable degree of intelligence need to be prosecuted as adults in some cases. Despite US law saying 18 years old is a "legal" adult, some people are fully mentally and physically developed by that age. It should be a case by case basis.

I'll have to agree here, takes more manpower, pretty sure it's worth it though.

Well, I partially agree with you. Like I said, our system allows it for 16-18 and I'm fine with this.

Regardless of the horrible crimes some of these teens committed, don't you think being sentenced to life at 14 years of age without chance of parole is cruel?

To me, a juvenile institution with prison security measures would seem more fitting. That way, you could focus on education, since minors still have compulsory school attendance, and specific activities for juveniles instead of putting them with adult serial killers and rapers where there is nothing for them to be learned anymore except more criminal behaviour. Like I said though, this would mean a serious extra budget of course.

Edited February 18, 201214 yr by kjel0112

Let's say a 16 year old kid killed a man, because he owed him money, or some crap people get killed for nowadays, and he was aware of what he was doing, would you still say it's too harsh?

If the person in question is mentally retarded, or something alike, I'd agree that they should be put in a institution instead, but manslaugters that were aware of what they were doing, and knew the consquences, I wouldn't hesitate to put the person in jail.

It's not that I'm pro or contra, it's just that minors have a lot of rights that are hard to accomplish in a prison. The fact is, in your example I would have no problem with it, seeing the facts are clear and 16 is a proper age. However, he would still have all the rights a child has by law. For example, right to education.

I just think it's harsh to sentence a 14 year old to life in prison without chance of parole. Some kids are just not educated or are born in extreme poverty and have no chances in life, other than a criminal career. And let's say for instance that a 14 year old and a 16 year old try to rob an old lady but the 16 year old one beats her to death with a club. Would that 14 year old have to be sentenced to manslaughter for being an accomplice?

Like unreal said, it's a case by case. Some teens really deserve to be sentenced to life. We had one recently here in belgium for killing a boy for his mp3 player.

However, in some cases, it's the lack of education and extreme poverty that is the number one reason for their crimes. I highly doubt that putting these youngsters, especially when they're only 14, in a normal prison would do good.

Don't get me wrong, I won't defend teenage criminals here. Far from it. When you've murdered someone, you have to be punished severely, whether you're 12 or 80. However, it's the way you punish them that should differ.

First,let me say that I am completely against children in a normal prison. It is cruel in every way since no child should grow up in a prison, regardless of what he has done. However, what this video doesn't show is what they did. Dominic Culpepper for example clubbed a girl and her mother to death. That's a horrible crime and it would be wrong to put such a person in a juvenile prison with juvenile thiefs and robbers. Unfortunately, these offender balance between two systems. You have the normal prisons, which are no place for them in my view. On the other hand you got the juvenile prisons but that's not an alternative either like I said. Building seperate prisons would be to costly I think. How is the US even allowed to disregard the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child btw? For example, a child has a right to spare time and hobbies so how would that be guaranteed in a prison? Here in Belgium, this is only possible for minors between 16-18 who are recidivists or for first time offenders with charges of murder/manslaughter. Also, the maximum punishment is 30 years. This, to me, seems like a fair system.

The US has not ratified that convention; it has no legal power here.

Regardless of the moral issues of jail, I'm going to lay my thoughts out here:

There are some people who are ill-fit for society. People who cannot live amongst others peacefully. People you cannot reach, a "failure to communicate" (for Cool Hand Luke fans). Murderous sociopaths and sexual deviants who should not be walking the streets. Those sort of people cannot be picked out easily. They need extensive study and analysis by professionals. But most importantly they need an intelligent judge.

There are way too many cases of people who murder in cold blood or rape without feeling who get to walk the street again in a dozen years. I'm sick and tired of it. And as most police officers will tell you; it makes them sick too. All they can do is try to stay on top of them, and throw them back in jail even for jaywalking if they catch them doing it.

@cp702: Ah, I thought they did. Well, after consulting Wikipedia: "Along with Somalia, the United States is one of only two countries in the world which have not ratified the Convention. President Obama has described the failure to ratify the Convention as 'embarrassing' and had promised to review this." Thanks for that, didn't know that. It explains why the US is indeed allowed to follow their own legislation. Maybe a lot of the UN child rights are provided in US legislation as well so there is no need for it to be ratified? I am no expert in US legislation though.

@Unr3al: couldn't agree more. Just like in the US, we also have the problem of overcrowded prisons. However, in Belgium this means that sentences below 3 years aren't even executed. Most of the time, these men remain free, pay a large fine or must wear an ankle monitor during house arrest. This is very frustrating for our officers, seeing most of their arrests won't even lead to a proper conviction and small criminals are back on the street in no time.

Why would you almost cry for someone who brutally murdered a kid with a bat? Most of the people in your examples deserve no sympathy. I'd say if the crime is first degree murder or worse, I'd want them to get life without parole regardless of age. If the person has some kind of serious mental illness though, they should be sent to a psyche institution.

Edited February 19, 201214 yr by Codz