Discussion
  • Read More
    TrumanKapoteHamilton Nolan
    12/29/15 12:45pm

    How would that work in a situation like Sandy Hook, where Adam Lanza was only 20 years old?

    People would be screaming for vengeance.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      EvanrudeJohnsonTrumanKapote
      12/29/15 1:00pm

      Some people think it will be fine, as long as Adam gets taught some life skills, and maybe gets a decent haircut.

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      MattyWollyTrumanKapote
      12/29/15 1:08pm

      Had Adam survived he almost certainly would have been found legally insane and kept in a facility for the criminally insane.

      Moreover, there is nothing in the article that says the governor does not anticipate exceptions where minors would be tried as adults.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    reasonmethisHamilton Nolan
    12/29/15 12:42pm

    Operate a heavy motor vehicle at 16. Fight and die for your country at 18. Decide to have sex with anyone 18 or older....at 18. Vote at 18. Drink alcohol at 21. Rent a car at 25. America’s arbitrariness in determining ages of doing anything is truly baffling.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      Sousedreasonmethis
      12/29/15 12:45pm

      True. Even more arbitrary is the decision process to try a juvenile as an adult.

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      Sid and Financyreasonmethis
      12/29/15 12:49pm

      I’m sorry you missed out on all that teen sex.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    KinglyCitrusHamilton Nolan
    12/29/15 12:41pm

    I think you’re missing the real angle here, which is all about rape prevention. Teenagers are catnip to rapists in adult prisons. The biggest risk factor by far for correctional sexual assault is age. In particular, the practice of placing juvenile defendants convicted as adults in adult prisons (still common in parts of this country) is a human rights crime of the highest order.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      Sid and FinancyKinglyCitrus
      12/29/15 12:50pm

      No, no, no. You have it all wrong. The really important point here is that the governor’s name is Dannel.

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      Mangia M.KinglyCitrus
      12/29/15 2:51pm

      While reform is 100% needed to keep children out of adult jails and prisons, this law goes further than that. It wants to keep children out of the adult system entirely and treat them as they are, children with great capacity to change and be rehabilitated.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    DashleyinCaliHamilton Nolan
    12/29/15 12:31pm

    It’s a worthy experiment, anyway.

    Also, his name is Dannel* Malloy.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      Hip Brooklyn StereotypeDashleyinCali
      12/29/15 12:38pm

      I’m with you, it’s definitely a noble endeavor. It’ll give a lot of young offenders the opportunity to still have a future ahead of them, God forbid.

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      Hamilton NolanDashleyinCali
      12/29/15 12:38pm

      Crazy name.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    ThrumbolioHamilton Nolan
    12/29/15 12:42pm

    I’m cool with this, though ideally it should bring along with it a clear focus on rehabilitation in the juvenile system.

    Not to say that the system doesn’t already provide that focus. Something to get us closer to the “you’re caught, you pay your debt to society, you move on” model and further from the “well, you made a mistake, so you’re fucked” model.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      DetMunchOneLinerThrumbolio
      12/29/15 3:56pm

      Top-to-bottom reform is being done, including a complete undoing of the unbelievably cruel “training school” model the state began to over-rely on for young offenders in the ‘90s, which basically involved restraining, medicating, and occasionally accidentally killing teenagers. The parole system has been getting an overhaul for five or six years now, we’ve gotten rid of the death penalty for good by declaring it unconstitutional, etc. Good stuff is happening.

      Reply
      <
    • Read More
      Free Market Party CompanyThrumbolio
      12/29/15 4:03pm

      There’s a huge philosophical difference between “punishing offenders” and “realistically dealing with a threat”.

      Punishment serves no purpose, and actually does more harm by stigmatizing offenders and guaranteeing they remain outside law-abiding mainstream society.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    ToubobHamilton Nolan
    12/29/15 12:43pm

    This seems like a good idea until you realize you will be locking up 12 year old kids with 20 year old men.

    That sounds like a frightening recipe for disaster.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      KinglyCitrusToubob
      12/29/15 12:48pm

      There also needs to be separation within the juvenile system. Ideally there would be “grades” and all inmates would only interact with people close to them in age. This doesn’t always happen, but it’s something we should absolutely push for. For what it’s worth, though, the scenario you’re describing already occurs in many places. It’s common for people originally convicted as juveniles to stay in the juvenile system until age 21, at which point they are either released or sent to adult facilities.

      Reply
      <
  • Read More
    Gamblor JDHamilton Nolan
    12/29/15 12:46pm

    I’m fine with treating 18-20 year-old nonviolent offenders as juveniles.

    Reply
    <
    • Read More
      festivusaziliHamilton Nolan
      12/29/15 12:52pm

      I support this. Can’t have those under-21s having ready access to toilet wine.

      Reply
      <
      • Read More
        amtHamilton Nolan
        12/29/15 12:44pm

        And cue the outrage from conservatives who advocate lower taxes and less government and don’t understand irony in 5, 4, 3.......

        Reply
        <
        • Read More
          raincoasterHamilton Nolan
          12/29/15 7:03pm

          I can see a future where incarceration is broken up like schooling. You don’t want the 20-year-olds in with the 14-year-olds or bad things will happen. So you’ll have a juvie, a middle-school, and the adult prison system. UGH that we live in a world that needs such things.

          Reply
          <