NO FUTURE FOR YOU!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/08/teens.life.sentence/index.html

So I read this article and was amazed at humanity. The article is about a 14-year-old kid, Quantel Lotts, who killed his 17-year-old brother, Michael Barton, with a knife. They had been playing with blowguns and at some point it got serious and he went for a knife.  He was sentenced to life in prison with no parole. I’ll let that settle a bit. A 14-year-old kid was sentenced to life in prison WITH NO PAROLE. He’s now 23 years old.

The thing that surprises me is the two extremes of the advocates for and against this guy and inmates like him who have committed ugly crimes.

His stepmother, the mother of Michael, the older kid, has forgiven Quantel for killing her son and is working with lawyers to get him released.

There are some who are working in different places to try to eliminate federally the ability to give such severe punishment to minors, namely the National Center for Juvenile Justice. Their reasoning is that these kids have usually undergone quite a bit of trauma and that system doesn’t care what happens to them. These kids have been through a lot of hell. Some have been raped, some have been dealing with a loved one and authority in their lives molesting or neglecting them and/or abusing drugs.

But of course, there’s another set that think that’s the reason they should never see daylight again. They believe that their crimes were so bad that they should stay locked up forever. And in actuality they feel the severity of their crimes makes them unworthy of the resources that would help them and get them back on the streets.

They feel like the victims shouldn’t have to feel victimized again and that these people will be in our communities repeating their crimes.

It turns out that there are over 2000 inmates with more or less the same stories. 73 of them were 13 or 14 when they did it. The thing that trips me out is that Son of Sam and Charles Manson have been up for parole multiple times. These guys have killed at ages wherein they are set in their ways or at least when they had a complex understanding of consequences of their actions. Manson has been up for parole about 11 times! David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam” killer has been up for parole 4 times.

Ok, My views:

The mother is no joke! I don’t know how long this could have taken her but she has seen past the fact that her son is dead and recognizes that this was a little kid. She also recognizes that this kid has been through a lot and needs help and not prison. The idea that she could get past the fact that this kid killed her son is amazing.

I give much props to the NCJJ for their efforts in trying to assist sentenced juveniles. The punishment does exceed the crime just a little. It’s not that I’m taking the sting out of murdering someone, but I am taking the stance that the goal of our system should be rehabilitation.

I know it hurts to lose someone you love. I’m sure it is even more infuriating and painful when that person is lost to someone who had no right and especially no real reason to take their lives. But should that mean that we lose all appreciation for human life? Should we want people to live enslaved to the system? That can be considered torture. It’s justifiable but should we desire that for people. These are people who, with rehabilitation, may make great and productive additions to society. If we allow our hate or vengeance allows us to get to the point where we can’t see or allow that, then we have become less human.

But this is the argument of National Organization for Victims of Juvenile Lifers. It was co-founded by woman whose sister’s family was killed by a teenager. The fact that these killers usually had a pretty complicated and painful life up to that point is more reason for them to lock these kids up and throw away the key. That’s pretty grimey to me. This group along with Crime Victims United of California believes that they could come out and repeat this stuff in our communities. Typical. Fear tactics. Isn’t that what always happens? A kid who kills someone in their teenage years, no matter what the reason, apparently can’t change and be remorseful and do something more for society in his 20’s or 30’s. Doesn’t make any sense.

I’m not saying don’t give them life. I’m just saying throwing away the key won’t bring your family or friends back. Everyone should get a second chance to make something better of themselves. Everyone should be allowed parole hearings. I think they should come with much more rigorous psychological evaluations and behavioral evaluation and testimonies by guards and even the well-known and trusted inmates (those do exist). And even after being granted parole, they can undergo periodic evaluations at institutions funded by the government with psychologists in a debt forgiveness program. I don’t have all the kinks worked out obviously but it’s a start.

I’m just sayin, if Charles Manson can come up for parol, why should we say some kid who wasn’t smart enough to control himself before he did something seriously stupid should never have that chance?