Should teens be tried as adults for heinous crimes?

Mac

I think they should.

I think for the most part, most teens know that killing is against the law. Thats not something hard to understand and know.
Beating up people to a pulp, like the kids did over in lakeland, FL should be tried as adults. They knew better that it was illegal, thats why they had the two guys on the look out and told them to quiet down a bit since they could hear them from out there. They knew what they were doing was illegal but still did it anyway. You commit an adult crime, you pay the price as an adult. Im sure those kids have mentioned time and time again, im not a kid, treat me like an adult.
Im sure those kids have said it a few times. Now they are getting what they are asking for.

Teens know that killing and such is against the law and should be tried as adults. The younger the child though, the better chance we have to work with them and help them become productive members of our society though. They should get help while in prison so when they do get out, I hope that they would be ready to enter the world and help the community.

Boo

Yes they should. I don't know about kids today, but I was very well aware of what was right and wrong when I was a teenager.

SmartA$$

teens are old enough to know better than to commit heinous crimes, so they should be tried as adults

GuitarDogg

Definitely!! They know right from wrong! Some feel free to commit those crimes because they know they will get off easy because of their age.

Chunky Char

absolutey..teens are old enough to know their actions and should be old enough to suffer the consequences!

urietsin

Apart from the idea that teens are capable of distinguishing right from wrong and should be expected to obey the law, one wonders what a teen who is not held up to the same consequences as an adult goes on to do with his life once his trial/sentence is over. Obviously, teens can do some pretty stupid stuff and get involved in things that are way beyond them without meaning any specific harm. It seems to me, though, that a teen who murders someone in cold blood, or tortures them before doing so, or anything else that might suggest he is a sociopath or continuing threat to society should definitely be tried as an adult.

I believe that the criminal justice system is ideally about redemption or rehabilitation, though it doesn't always work out that way. We impose the harshest sentences upon adults we do not feel can be rehabilitated, such as life in prison or the death penalty. A teen who is incapable of redemption becomes an adult incapable of redemption...is he any better off? Is society?

Interesting question, by the way.

Ryan G

More to the question, should adults be tried as adults for heinous crimes.. with MANLY sentences.

oldknowitall

Yes.

Spindrift

Absolutely; if the teen is old enough to plot and carry out the crime, he is old enough to go to prison for it and do hard time with all that that entails. Like the 18 year old who was going to blow up his school; he is going to prison for life. Bravo for that!

Angel

yea a crimes a crime it doesnt matter what age you are! at any age you are you are bound to know that what you are doing is wrong and that you shouldnt be doing it! one 15 year old raped a young girl and didnt go to jail due to his age but yet if this was a man he would be getting like 10 years its just wrong!!!

sunshine

I am kind of mixed on this one. yes they are old enough to know better. But from experience when you do get older say in your late 20s or older you do regret things you did in your teens, that you woul d think twice about doing now that you are older. I think I made myself clear.

General H

Yes by all means. If they were grown up enough to commit the crime then they are adult enough to take the punishment that fits that crime. All too many are getting off just because they are under the age of 18. Remember the kid that killed those people when the DC sniper was on the rampage. He got his just reward.

All of this and you can thank out liberal society for not punishing the kids while they were growing up. These days the kids know they can get away with murder and they almost can. they think it a great thing to have done time for a crime. Thank you liberal school system and liberal society.

De Patre Vostro

yes

Kimmy

I have to defer to our forefathers who wrote laws protecting children from being tried as adults. I know there are heinous crimes being committed by young kids, but I still think there ought to be some other set of disciplinary actions for them. They are lost souls who need to be rehabilitated, not tossed away like used goods.

This doesn't mean that I would encourage teenagers to commit crimes because they won't be punished. I just think they should be tried in juvenile courts and given penalties that are suitable for children. It just doesn't seem right to put kids in jail with adults. I just cannot in good conscience embrace such a concept.

Jess...

there are teens who act like adults, and there are teens who act like children... there are teens who know what they are doing and the difference between right and wrong... to the answer to that question is completely situational

MLE

Yes they should. But I don't think they should be eligible for the death penalty.

timo

i say no because everyone else says yes......if they are under 16 then there should be a separate system to keep them away from hardened criminals as this will give them more chance of reform and acess to targeted programmes.
Usually these kids are a product of the invironment they grew up in and have committed crimes young enough to be released back into society at still a young age it is therefore most important that their incaceration involves serious reformation rather than making them understudies to the general prison population where their youth and inexperience would be exploited.

Melchior Ingvar XXII

Yes. And no.
But mostly yes.
But if not yes, then no.
If no however, then yes.
So, no?

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