I feel like there’s a contradiction between right to a speedy trial, and the judicial system going so slowly that you’re now convicted as an adult despite when the crime occurred being years prior.
He’s not sentenced to life based on his current age. He’s still not an adult anyway. Most (all?) states allow minors above a certain age to be tried and sentenced as adults in extreme circumstances, and 15 isn’t considered too young here.
I think the lack of parole option is horrible in this case, but then again US prisons don’t really focus on rehabilitation either so I’m not sure he’d have much chance anyway. Still horribly sad all around.
Not sure what you’re saying in the first paragraph. In one respect you say he wasn’t tried as an adult when he was if I read correctly, and yet if he was tried as an adult, it seems you’re saying it wouldn’t or shouldn’t matter.
I tend to disagree that 15 is old enough. 15 is flatly a child. The brain is physiologically far from full development. That we whimsically throw aside our own laws on trying children or adults based on how vengeful we’re feeling on a given day astounds me.
The United States stands alone as the only nation that sentences people to life without parole for crimes committed before turning 18. This briefing paper reviews the Supreme Court precedents that limit the use of juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) and the challenges that remain to its abolition.
I feel like there’s a contradiction between right to a speedy trial, and the judicial system going so slowly that you’re now convicted as an adult despite when the crime occurred being years prior.
He’s not sentenced to life based on his current age. He’s still not an adult anyway. Most (all?) states allow minors above a certain age to be tried and sentenced as adults in extreme circumstances, and 15 isn’t considered too young here.
I think the lack of parole option is horrible in this case, but then again US prisons don’t really focus on rehabilitation either so I’m not sure he’d have much chance anyway. Still horribly sad all around.
Not sure what you’re saying in the first paragraph. In one respect you say he wasn’t tried as an adult when he was if I read correctly, and yet if he was tried as an adult, it seems you’re saying it wouldn’t or shouldn’t matter.
I tend to disagree that 15 is old enough. 15 is flatly a child. The brain is physiologically far from full development. That we whimsically throw aside our own laws on trying children or adults based on how vengeful we’re feeling on a given day astounds me.
I’m not the only one: https://www.sentencingproject.org/policy-brief/juvenile-life-without-parole-an-overview/
He points out that the perpetrator is:
-No longer 15
-Still a minor
-Tried an adult, which many states allow