Quick, a question: What does the United States of America have in common with the African nation of Somalia?
Answer: They are the only countries to refuse to sign Article 37 of the 1989 UN document entitled, "Rights of the Child."
What's that mean? Translated, it means America stands shoulder-to-shoulder with a primitive east African nation in routinely refusing to acknowledge the rights of children. And, America is also the only known nation in the world that allows children under the age of 18 to be tried as adults and sentenced to prison forever -- with absolutely no chance for parole. In a majority of U.S. cases the child is charged with murder, but sometimes they have simply been in the company of someone else who committed murder.
Hey, wait a minute! Aren't we the country that touts our progressive stand on human rights? Isn't America the nation that cajoles others -- Egypt being the latest example -- for unreasonable treatment and imprisonment of citizens? Yep, that's us. So, how do we possibly explain the more than 2, 574 inmates currently in U.S. prisons who were sent there as children and who will remain there for the rest of their lives? (By the way, the undisputed figure of 2,574 comes from the latest Human Rights Watch annual report.)
Is it okay with you that we, as a society, routinely toss kids into the deep end of the adult pool of criminal defendants? Understand that upon conviction they are, in effect, lost forever -- thrown away as disposable kids -- in a prison system that will surely expose them to sexual abuse at the hands of other prisoners and turn them hard and mean forever.
Every mental health expert will tell you a child's brain isn't fully developed -- specifically, in the areas that control decision making, risk taking and impulse control. We've learned these young kids kill for a variety of reasons including prolonged emotional or physical/sexual abuse, brain damage or mental illness sustained during gestation from their addicted mother or a perceived threat to their way of life that their young brain cannot accept.
So when they kill are they really responsible for their behavior?
To be sure, there are some under the age of 18 -- vicious teen-aged members of street gangs -- who are keenly aware of their actions and who richly deserve to be locked away to protect society. But many of the defendants within that group of 2,574 aren't like that at all, and some are single digit young. One boy in Arizona was just 8 when he took a gun and blasted 10 bullets into his father and a male tenant in their home. The state is still trying to figure out what made that child snap. The boy pleaded guilty and the state ordered him to undergo psychiatric evaluations, a great step, in my opinion. However, if he doesn't respond this boy could still be sentenced to hard time.
Coming up soon in the Pennsylvania court system is young Jordan Brown. He shot and killed his father's pregnant girlfriend as she lay sleeping so Jordan was deemed a double murderer at just 11 years old. The judge in the case has declared that since the boy has expressed no real remorse he must be tried as an adult. Jordan will likely become the youngest offender in American history to be sentenced to LWOP -- life in prison without parole.
Quantel Lotts was 14-years-old when got that sentence in 2002 in St. Francois County, Missouri. What started as horseplay with his older stepbrother later turned deadly when Lott impulsively grabbed a knife. He was tried as an adult for first degree murder with predictable results. Quantel will live the rest of his life behind the bars of a prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri.
In many states judges have no discretion in sentencing adult defendants. Take a life and you get LWOP -- period.
It wasn't always like this. Before the late 80's children were seldom prosecuted in adult court settings. Their fates were determined by juvenile courts which many believed were much better equipped to deal with these minor's unique problems and get them psychiatric help. But the system often simply set the offender free at age 21 providing little or none of the security net they had come to rely upon. That scared folks and somewhere along the line it became easier to just lock up these kids and throw away the key.
California's notorious Charles Manson, found guilty of seven murders, gets his 12th parole hearing next year. New York's "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz, who admitted to killing six people when he was in his 20's has had four parole hearings so far. The system may never grant a reprieve to either of them but at least they got a chance. Meantime, at least 2,574 American kids will never get that -- not even if they can prove they found true redemption and direction in prison.
There's got to be a better way to keep ourselves safe while at the same time administering to the needs of our troubled kids. Any ideas?
Follow Diane Dimond on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dianedimond
How about getting a grasp on exactly what you are talking about. I would like to see what you have to say on the subject after living with some of the people in question. It wouldnt take long for you to realize the difference between real people & the paper statistics you have them confused with.
On a drug charge, I got to watch the murderers, rapists & child molesters for months on end & I can, with absolute surety, guarantee you that 99.99% of these individuals are right where they need to be.
There was no age barrier. The 16 year-olds were just as adept at killing as the 46 year olds.
"But many of the defendants within that group of 2,574 aren't like that at all," seems to be your argument here.
Really?
Tell me specifically how you are so sure that is true.
The cases sited are very different from each other, and as such must be handled differently. The case of an 8 year old boy in Arizona is subject to different laws and circumstances then that of Jordan Brown in PA (he has not yet been tried, so the statement that he killed is wrong... allegedly is still correct, even if all the evidence points to him).
Overall, the biggest issue that comes up regarding LWOP is one of mandatory sentencing, both for adults and juveniles. PA has an either/or system... either try in juvenile and lose jurisdiction on the 21st birthday, or try in adult court with an LWOP sentence. Ohio has a mixed system, allowing for (based on a recent case) a juvenile to be sentenced beyond 21 with some sort of transition to the adult system. Figure out how to manage these disparities without infringing on states' rights and the problem is alleviated somewhat.
Considering you earlier listed quite a few very credible reasons why a child would commit murder I am deeply confused as to why you included this sentence. Some child gang members have probably become "past help" and need to be locked away for decades. Some are just as assuredly victms of abuse, broken homes, and lack of education themselves and deserve a second chance. Just as some suburban white kids become killers and are utter sociopaths who society needs to be protected from. I am perplexed as to why you chose to single out teenage gangbangers as the sole kids who deserve to be locked forever, regardless of cause or circumstance. That was a lazy sentence IMO.