Please sign this petition. It was started in South Carolina after 12 year old Christopher Pittman was sentenced to 30 years in adult prison for the murder of his grandparents in 2001. Christopher was under the influence of Paxil and Zoloft~a pwerful adult dosage. Children all across the U.S. are continually being tried and sentenced as adults, many times receiving harsher sentences than an adult would for the same crime. Prison is no place for a child. Any child. Help change the laws~help protect America's children...our most valuable asset. The U.S. and Somalia are the only countries that try their children as adults.
rhttp://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/429258617
www.justiceforjuveniles.org

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We need swift harsh punishment. It's the ONLY way to maintain law and order.

What the hell is wrong with you?! Where is your compassion? You can't just say that because a a child kills someone, and I'd like a definition of child we have a different one in the UK, they will in all likelyhood reoffend as soon as they are released from prison. That is completely obsurd. What you must understand is that about 70% (I can't recall exact figures, I'm sure thier are articles about this at guardian unlimited) of murders are done by family members to other familiy members for reasons of abuse/breakups/poverty/family problems, and therefore will not reoffend again because they have no reason to.

What a fantastic egalitarian society America is, eh?

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I never said the brain has NO capacity to function properly. What is your definition of function properly?

Carry out the proper functions, duh. Specifically referring to giving the person enough of a sense to make decidions based on foreward thinking.

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You just keep on saying things like "most people" or "lots of people" etc.

It is a fact; fact by observation. Obviously the majority of people can make decisions based on consequences such as not assaulting people in anger, etc.

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If you can hurt a person so far that they die, and say "oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to" then they really need to be punished. What stops them from going off and accidentally doing it again?

you just made it about pretending to be an accident wheereas I was refering to actual accidents. You are free to your opinions about whether or not they should be punished, but murder is different when it's not done out of malice.

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But can the vast majority, juggle? And there you go again saying there are plenty of people. Who says? Just you?

you're quite an aggressive debater. Perhaps I used the incorrect word. The majority of people would be more accurate. if people couldn't tell right from wrong, everyone would be commiting wrong acts by accident.

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Again, I never said that they have NO capacity to function.

I meant able to function in relation to making decisions based on consequences. kepp up.

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Give people some credit.

I would if you would give me some facts. You just keep on saying things like "most people" or "lots of people" etc.

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many murders are not done in an attempt to kill

If you can hurt a person so far that they die, and say "oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to" then they really need to be punished. What stops them from going off and accidentally doing it again?

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It does not mean that the brain has no capacity to function properly.

I never said the brain has NO capacity to function properly. What is your definition of function properly?

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There are plenty of people that can tell write from wrong.

And there are plenty of people who can juggle. Probably hundreds of thousands of people can juggle. But can the vast majority, juggle? And there you go again saying there are plenty of people. Who says? Just you?

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but that doesn't mean htey have no capacity.

Again, I never said that they have NO capacity to function. No capacity would mean they are vegetables, in unconscious states.

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I'm a bit confused as to what you're arguing toward, Z.

Sorry to confuse you, just scroll down a little to my first post and then on up to understand why I am saying this. Basically I’m just saying we can help develop and understand the concept of kill=bad by punishing, since they cant figure it out themselves sometimes.

Claiming that kids are not completely aware of what they're doing and thus should not be tried like adults is essentially removing them of all responsiblity. You're giving them a free ticket to do whatever because 1) it's not really their fault, and 2) they're not going to get punished.

And if you do punish them, they won't know why because they allegedly don't know what they did wrong.

I'm a bit confused as to what you're arguing toward, Z. You're saying that kids don't fully understand the concepts of right and wrong and so they should be fully punished for it?

I may only be 18, but I have a fairly well-defined idea of what is right and what is wrong. And I'm not the exception, either. Most people, even children, do understand right and wrong. They choose to ignore it, for whatever reason. In the case of Chris Pittman, the meds clouded his judgement. Not an ironclad defense by any means, but it doesn't show that he lacks judgment completely.

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there are supposedly lots of teens and kids who can match kill=bad

what? You're saying most people cannot connect kill=bad? Give people some credit. many murders are not done in an attempt to kill, and when they are it's because the murderer is mentally unstable. That is not the same.

As for fully developed brains, it just means the brain is still growing and reworking itself. It does not mean that the brain has no capacity to function properly.

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You can’t just yell stereotypes because I'm saying something that seems like one until you look it up and find some real facts.

Oh please, it clearly is a teenage stereotype. There are plenty of people that can tell write from wrong.

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It has been proven that the adolescent brain does not have the same capacity as an adult as far as connecting actions with consequences.

Maybe adolecents dont have the same capacity, but that doesn't mean htey have no capacity.

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do remember a 16 year old girl and a 17 year old girl being hanged in Iran, one for murder and one for not keeping her chastity... The truth is, these kids deserved it

Um...was I the only one who noticed the fact that the one girl was hanged for "not keeping her chastity?" Hmm...I guess she deserved it? Uh...

It has been proven that the adolescent brain does not have the same capacity as an adult as far as connecting actions with consequences.

I do however think that there are some adolescents who commit serious crimes who DO have the capacity to understand right from wrong.

I think trying minors as adults needs to be done on a case by case basis. I certainly don't think it should apply to 12 year olds...that is clearly crazy. I think rehabilitation of kids is the better route over locking them up and throwing away the key.

I've got news for you. The kid in the original post who killed his grandparents had a lousy lawyer. He's got good grounds for an appeal (if he really was on those medications)...and I would almost stake my life on the fact that he won't serve all 30 years of his sentence, even if he doesn't appeal the trial court's decision.

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Stereotypes stereotypes stereotypes.

Fact: The human brain is not fully developed until around the age of 21.

The last part of the brain that takes so long is the pre frontal cortex, the part of the brain that matches actions with consequences.
(info found here )

Sure, there are supposedly lots of teens and kids who can match kill=bad, but is it the vast majority? You also have to take into consideration the fact that there was 12,658 murders in the united states alone last year, (taken from here) did these people match kill + bad? No, they acted on impulse.

You can’t just yell stereotypes because I'm saying something that seems like one until you look it up and find some real facts.

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Kids, and even us teenagers minds, are not developed enough to think of future consequences.

Stereotypes stereotypes stereotypes. There are a lot of teenagers that can see consequences and even many kids that can. maybe not for things like when to eat candy, but punishment for murder? Duh.

I agree w/ Zoasterboy

So what your saying is, kids can go around killing people, and be like "hey no problem judge, 30 years in prison is nuthin, cause that’s in 8 years! That’s like my whole life homey!"

And then what. Let him back on the streets. To go kill more?

With that example set, other kids wont have to worry about going around killing people.

Kids, and even us teenagers minds, are not developed enough to think of future consequences. Kids think about NOW. When would you like your candy, after dinner or before? NOW. An adult would probably save their appetite, knowing that they would be fuller. And also knowing the health risks, not eat as much candy. If a kid was shocked with electricity every time he had candy before dinner, he wouldnt do it. Neither would the other kids watching him getting shocked. Same concept when it comes to killing.

We need swift harsh punishment. It's the ONLY way to maintain law and order.

The kid deserves a punishment but they should wait to have him serve the time until he gets like 20 or something.

I just did a report on a case about kid's punishment being different from adult's court....at first I thought that of course they should be tried in different courts and receive different punishments.....but this case was like thirty years ago. I still feel that the court procedures should be different (for example in juvenile courts the judge is sort of like a counselor and there job is to make up the best punishment that would rehabilitate the child and make them productive). This is a good thing about juvenile courts, which are different from adult courts which purpose is to solely punish. But the thing is, kids today are a lot different from the kids thirty years ago. It is like kids like to claim that they are more educated than their parents were at their age (which is true) and then when they commit these actions they want to play the innocent child card. Honestly kids today are learning more and more faster than either. Why are first graders cussing and talking about having sex? Why are middle school kids joining gangs and learning how to fataly hurt people? I'm sorry but nowadays kids need to own up to their actions.

you commit murder you deserves the full penalty of law age matters not.

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The kid killed his grandparents. He deserves it.

yeah...but you also have to look at the meds he was on. obviously he was on a high dose for depression...and often people have adverse reactions to medications (especially mood altering ones) hell, the stuff I'm on (at first) made me less sad but more angry...instead of wanting to cut and end my life, I got angry and threw and punched things...I think that yeah, maybe he needs to be punished...but I mean, if 12 is too young to have a lisense or even drink BECAUSE THEIR BRAINS HAVE NOT FULLY DEVELOPED....you gotta take that into account.

uh i dont know if he deserved it or not...would have to know the whole story...might have been a bit pshyco though

The kid killed his grandparents. He deserves it. Also, about the Somalia and US being the only countries to charge their kids as adults, I do remember a 16 year old girl and a 17 year old girl being hanged in Iran, one for murder and one for not keeping her chastity, and I remember two 11 years olds in Britain being sentenced to 20 years for killing a four year old. Their sentence was eventually reduced, but not before they served more than seven years. The truth is, these kids deserved it, and if you do the crime, you should do the time.