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Do you believe in charging children as adults for murder?

posted 2 years ago by Ticketsplease (4024)
16 replies | jump to latest

As terrible as their crimes may be, they're still kids.

Example, 13 year old boys, Antonio D. Barbeau and his friend Nathan J. Paape, decided to murder Barbeau's grandmother for fun and to steal her money. They attacked her with an axe in her own home. It was brutal and shocking. They stole her car, abandoned it, and went and got pizza.

They were arrested soon after and admitted to their crime. Antonio won't be out until he is 50. Nathan 46.

Is that fair? The male brain is at maturity at age 25.

Before that, it's just a brain in development.

Does he have to be punished for 37 years? How long does he have to learn his lesson for?

[–] WandererFromYs (2406) 2 years ago

As terrible as their crimes may be, they're still kids.

I disagree, those kids were 13, not 4. They are old enough to understand life and death, they are old enough to understand that An axe is a weapon that can cause harm, and they killed her for no reason. I don’t agree with going light on people like that.

There were probably a ton of other crimes that were prevented by having them behind bars.

[–] ClementinaSpur (1328) 2 years ago

Agree. Also, we are at this point because fitting consequences for wrongdoing are eroding from the schools all the way on up to law and order.

[–] Ticketsplease (4024) 2 years ago

And if they were shown to be rehabilitated with no more homicidal tendencies, they should be released.

[–] capuchin (3366) 2 years ago

Generally, I think sentencing for children should concentrate much more on the rehabilitation element and much less on denunciation, retribution and deterrent elements.

Above all, however, there's the protection of the public element. I don't know these kids from a hole in the ground, so I don't know, but killing someone with an axe 'for fun' does not suggest simple immaturity to me. A thirteen year old with normal cerebral development knows not to do that. Instead, it suggests a severe empathy deficit that we might associate with a personality or behavioural disorder.

I doubt they're just going to mature out of that. But if they receive treatment and counselling and are at some stage deemed to no longer be a potential risk to the public, then -- yes -- as juveniles at the time they committed the crime, I would support their earlier release.

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

I don't believe in just charging *poor* children as adults! Charge some of the damn "affluenza" cases as adults!

[–] Stratego (31075) 2 years ago

Yes. If a kid already kills, there's something terribly wrong with him/her.

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

Here in Canada gang leaders are recruiting kids under 18 because they fall under the Young Offenders Act and are not penalized to any great extent. Cops did warn that this would happen when this was brought in.