Only the good die young

Juveniles being tried as adults is a very delicate situation. The courts try to look at all sides of an even to justify trying a "child" as an adult. This situation is about to be tested in which the Supreme Court will try to decide if the courts are being to strict and not giving juveniles the chance for probation if they have been found guilty of severe crimes. It's very difficult to think that someone at the age of 14 could commit a crime so heinous that the courts find them guilty and slap on a charge of life without the possibility of parole. How does one get to choose who is considered a juvenile and who is moved up to the adult category. Or to what extent a crime has to be to make one put such a young child behind bars for the rest of their life.

I personally don't know where I would stand on such a case if I had to pick either-or. There can be so many factors involved that one would definitely have to look at each individual separately and not clump them together. Some of these cases they are looking at, the person of interest was just a driver of a get-away vehicle or was just present, yet did not do the shooting, beating, etc. I agree that some of these deserve to get a second chance at life, yet others wasted theirs. I know I needed a few chances and was fortunate to get those, but I also didn't take a life from this earth. I didn't deprive a family of their son, daughter, father, mother, and of their future together. I didn't make anyone have to suffer through the thoughts of their pregnant daughter in the basement with her husband and their last looks at life were pleading for mercy at the end of gun held by a 16 year old.

Two cases are affecting the Supreme Courts decision, Evan Miller v. Alabama and Kuntrell Jackson v. Hobbs (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-court-juvenilesbre82j13e-20120320,0,367928.story). These are two separate cases in which the convicted had two different responsibilities in the crime that they were convicted of. Kuntrell (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/cert/10-9647) was with his cousin when his cousin shot and killed a shop attendant. Evan (http://www.oyez.org/cases/2010-2019/2011/2011_10_9646) helped beat a man with a baseball bat and then light his trailer on fire. Both of these cases are trying to use the cruel and unusual punishment argument about being locked away for pretty much their entire life. Honestly, I don't see how the courts can even compare these two cases in a decision that could effect as many as 2300 inmates. In the case of Kuntrell I can see how he would want to fight the decision. He was with his cousin, yet did not do the shooting. But Miller aided with the murder of someone. And yet he wants to say being locked away is cruel and unusual....what the heck does he think lighting someone's house on fire after beating him is... So overall, i'm split... I just want those who deserve punishment to be punished, and those who can come from a mistake and make a difference in this world to do exactly that. But pulling a trigger or stabbing a person multiple times, to beating with a bat is a very physical and cognitive thing. I believe they know what they are doing and know of the consequences associated, unlike someone who is with their cousin when they shoot a person, or drives a vehicle away from a scene of a crime.

In relations to psychosocial, the class this blog is for, it could be very difficult to try a child as an adult. Most mental illnesses aren't diagnosed until later in their life. So someone who is mentally unstable may commit a crime while in a episode related to their condition and never get the chance to live a 'normal' life.  I think that if a violent crime is committed and later they are diagnosed with a severe mental illness, they could have the chance for a second chance. Maybe get them in a different setting with meds and see how they react after several years. It is no way an excuse to plead guilty to insanity, but some folks truly can't control what is going on with their mind and bodies at certain times. I guess asking for a fair judgement that puts people exactly where they should be is like asking for World Peace....it's just not going to happen, someone will always be on the other side of a decision.