Opinion Talk

By Charles

June 25, 2008 7:44 AM | Link to this

Stop prosecuting kids as adults? Sure, but let’s press charges against their parents instead. Someone needs to take responsibility for their actions - why not those who raised the child to not respect laws, right of others and their property?

By Grandfather

June 25, 2008 8:10 AM | Link to this

Which had you rather have a 15 year old with at pistol aimed at your head or a 35 year old with a piston aimed at your head? Makes no difference right? Then why not try them the same? Rehabilitation infers that they were habilitated at some point in their life.Most were not, therefore rehabilation is impossible. The young thugs of today think nothing of killing and when caught they are remorseful, not for the crime but remorseful at being caught. You say that African American and Latino youths make up 45% of the population of youths but make up 77% of those arrested. So what. What is your point. If they did the crime then they SHOULD be arrested. However you and your liberal lackys will soon make this into a racial issue like you always do. By the way…how many of the African American youths are from Africa, ever been to Africa or can even locate Africa on a map? I say if they do an adult crime…do adult time.

By Margaret

June 25, 2008 8:12 AM | Link to this

Yes, my husband and I agree that all black children who commit crimes, as well as their incompetent parents, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Society has had more than enough of dealing with their complete disregard for the rest society. Throw that adolescent trash in prison BEFORE they can breed and make a whole new generation of criminals. We need to send a message while getting their kind of the streets.

By ellis

June 25, 2008 8:23 AM | Link to this

if you try them as adults, shouldn’t they also have the same rights/privileges as adults? drinking, driving, voting, owning firearms, ccw permits, marriage, contracts….mmm?

By noneya

June 25, 2008 8:35 AM | Link to this

Only 4 posts at the time I started typing and the cowards who hide behind screen names have shown up. Back to the matter at hand…..Unfortunately there are a lot of young kids committing very serious crimes. I can’t see the justification of letting a 14-17 year old go to juvenile court for committing a violent offense. Younger than 14; possibly.

By Copyleft

June 25, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this

Margaret’s right: black children are thugs and should be tried and punished as adults! After all, they’re not “civilized” and normal, like white kids. White kids need our understanding, and special counseling to gently steer them from their troubled ways.

But black kids? They’re savages. Lock ‘em up and throw away the key! Thanks for pointing the way, Margaret!

By JeepersCreepers

June 25, 2008 8:47 AM | Link to this

Knowing basic right from wrong is not nuclear science unless you are a wacho liberal like Sarah Totonchi. Then you do not have true reality of the world around you. As a teenager I knew it was wrong to steal, kill, lie, and violate all the basic laws. Of course she did not get this until she was in college. Only college grads know these things…right? Now bring race into this! That will get more attention for her wacho ideas. Progressive liberals are stuck on numbers when the numbers simply say for whatever reason these minorites are doing the crime. Wow, we must punish a white everytime we punish a minority….right? Not all male kids are meek mild 5 foot nothing people but some are over 6 foot tall and very manly and could threaten most adults. But not in her little progressive liberal world, SHE would just say no and tell them to behave and they would do it.

Finally, adults use kids to commit crimes such as drug dealing. You can not simply forgive the kids for their participation. They too along with the WHITE adult must be punished.

By ron

June 25, 2008 8:53 AM | Link to this

In countries where juveniles are not tried as adults,they’re still killing people.In countries where gun laws are strict,the juveniles are using knives.The people they kill are no less dead than if they were killed by someone 90 years old.They are useless trash,these murdering juveniles, and they need to be treated as such.

There’s a reason why a preponderance of thse incarcerated juveniles are black or hispanic and that reason is well known.Unless you can prove to me that white kids are being let off for murder while blacks are being charged,perhaps it would be best not to mention this again.

By Edwin

June 25, 2008 9:27 AM | Link to this

Right On, Copyleft! It is a shame more people in government don’t have your common sense and courage to speak the truth. Your way of handling problems sure would make my neighborhood better.

By James

June 25, 2008 9:30 AM | Link to this

This is very simple. Most liberals don’t want “so-called” kids prosecuted as adults UNLESS the crime happens to them or someone they love. They it becomes different. How hypocritical can you get.

By satch

June 25, 2008 9:38 AM | Link to this

i,m sorry we have too many 17 yr olds shooting and killing.black or white do the crime do the time.

By Claudell

June 25, 2008 9:50 AM | Link to this

Keep young black thugs, male and female, in separate prisons for their crimes today until the female delinquents are post-menopausal to make the world a thug-free place for the law-abiding Asian, African-American, white and Hispanic children of tomorrow. (I am only talking about the criminal ones here.) If certain Nubian children cannot even understand and follow The Ten Commandments in order to stay of jail, then behind bars is the best place to put them for ALL concerned. No matter their ages when they commit acts such as murder, the people they kill are dead FOREVER.

By ann

June 25, 2008 9:52 AM | Link to this

I think if they start giving out more time like 50-77 years in prison then maybe these idots would stop going arount and robbing people at gunpoint for 7.00 dollars! Look at the brian nichols case why isn’t he on death row !

By FSJR

June 25, 2008 10:15 AM | Link to this

Do the numbers imply that African-American and Latino children get arrested more than their White counterparts because of their race? If that many are doing the crimes, that many should be locked up. The issue then should be, why aren’t we arresting White youth.

By Anna

June 25, 2008 10:16 AM | Link to this

I can only imagine that those of you who believe that teenagers should be tried as adults for the serious crimes they commit are probably the same ones who believe that a 14 or 15 year old girl who lies about her age and then engages in consensual sex with a 26 year old male is the victim of child molestation. If you are going to make the claim that teenagers are capable of understanding the consequences of their actions then make the claim for all offenses, not just the ones that are politically acceptable. Stop putting men in prison for aggravated child molestation and on the sex offender registry for the remainer of their lives for this obsurd “crime.” Hold these 14 and 15 year old girls accountable for their actions and stop treating them like some kind of victim. Treat them as you would treat all these other teenagers for “breaking the law.” If you don’t want to punish them for having underage sex, then drop the age of consent to 14, where it used to be before common sense was excluded from not only the Georgia Legislature, but from Congress as well.

By mark

June 25, 2008 10:19 AM | Link to this

regardless of the race of the child. reading these commets. black, white hispanic. whatever. it’s stupid commets coming from supposely adults. it one reason our youth are so far off track. you adults don’t use common sense. just listen at you.ajc, yall really need to do a better job screening these idiots.it’s see to me ajc, conone these type of blogs. in the sports pages everywhere through outthe ajc. pitiful.

By Haiti Restittuion

June 25, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this

When will you law abiding citizens ask the French to pay back Haiti for the money they stole from this proud country.

Since you are all righteouspeople where is your outrage.

Backed by the thugs at the UN and of course the USA the Frogs have refused to pay back the $21 billion to $3trillion dollars that they owe Haiti.

Justice = Just us.

The U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration behind China. The U.S. like China is a communist country disguised as a democaracy.

By AH

June 25, 2008 10:31 AM | Link to this

WTF, where are all of these race baiters coming from? Ever since last week this is all I’m seeing on these blogs, race baiting. I know the AJC likes to toss up these kinds of topics up and include a little racial commentary. But, I don’t remember seeing this much ignorance on serious topics in the past.

By Josh

June 25, 2008 10:37 AM | Link to this

The U.S. is a communist country? LOL i almost fell out of my chair laughing at that one. give me a break.

By jimbo THE FIRST

June 25, 2008 10:37 AM | Link to this

It took what? Three comments to take it to race? You remember that it was a bunch of white kids from well to do families that broke into over 100 cars right? You remember that Columbine was shot up by white kids right? You know that the Pearl, Mississippi, school shooting was a white kid who slit his mother’s throat and then shot up a school with a .30-30 rifle, right? (on a side note, he was stopped by the principal who ran out to his car and grabbed his own gun and was later prosecuted for stopping the kid from making his way to the elementary school for some more fun). A lot of the more heinous crimes are committed by white kids. Anytime a child is raped and murdered by another child it’s about 50/50 that a white kid did it. Most of the time this debate comes up it’s in reference to a white kid.

So, heinous crimes are a universal issue. It’s not just black or latino kids.

By Brenda

June 25, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this

Margaret, what’s with “Yes, my husband and I agree that all black children who commit crimes, as well as their incompetent parents, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”? Why not: all children who commit crimes. Why does it have to be just the black kids. From what I’ve seen lately, crime is an equal opportunity behavior by all colors of the rainbow; young and old. You need to get your head out of the sand.

By jimbo THE FIRST

June 25, 2008 10:43 AM | Link to this

Oh man, Haiti.. money can’t fix your problems Haiti..

By NONEYA

June 25, 2008 10:45 AM | Link to this

AH,

I’m with you. It’s impossible to have a good dialogue on some of these topics anymore. AJC allows commenting on the more controversial issues and this is what happens. The cowards enjoy being able to throw out their racist rhetoric behind the anonymity of their screen name because they wouldn’t dare do it anywhere else.

By Ignorance is bliss

June 25, 2008 11:01 AM | Link to this

Josh it is only funny because you have been miseducated to the point that you simply lack the ability to perform independent research and rely on t.v. to shape your views.

ever heard of the 10 planks of the communist manifesto?

every single one exists in the good old u.s.a.

Sorry to ruin your day.

You live in a communist country get used to it.

By Ray

June 25, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this

You’re just as dead from the bullet from the gun of a 14 yr old as you are from one from an adult. “Don’t understand what they are doing because of their age?”, give me a break. We don’t give them enough credit for knowing what is going on. It seems that in some segments of our society, we are not out of the trees yet. Some animals have more compassion for their young than some humans. The obligation doesn’t stop with just having a child as many people in our society believe. Better parenting, more responsible dads at home, less single parent households, all of these would help to solve this problem. Without the above, we will still continue to have teenage criminals who need to be treated as adults when they commit adult crimes.

By RealityKing

June 25, 2008 11:22 AM | Link to this

Violent criminals are no longer children, nor should they be treated as such..

By Copyleft

June 25, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this

Exactly. We need to abolish the notion of “childhood” entirely and allow all minors to drink, smoke, drive, vote, sign contracts, join the military, etc. I know plenty of 13-year olds that should be running their own businesses and driving drunk and stoned to the voting booth after playing Grand Theft Auto all afternoon.

After all, they “know right from wrong,” so they’re certainly capable of making all other types of adult decisions and commitments, right? RIGHT!

By Grandfather

June 25, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this

Haiti….US is a communist country….WRONG….US is a democracy…WRONG…it is a Republic. I know that your feeble mind cannot grasp this so don’t try…just float through life looking for your entitlements

By SD

June 25, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this

Sarah Totonchi would have to have a brain enhancement to move up to the idiot level. What cave has she been hiding in for the past 30 years? Does this idiot ever read crime stats. Look at all the young 200 plus pound black males running around car-jacking, home invading and breaking into high-end stores and last but not least stealing cars….all because they know the system and they know they’ll walk as juveniles. This is just more handholding and pandering to the crime infested, spiraling out of control poor elements of black communities across America. Sarah isn’t concerned about poor white kids, no….it’s all about the poor blacks. Bottom line, let one of these thugs break into my home and he can be wearing Sesame Street pj’s with footies andI will still blow the top of his skull off if I think he is there to harm me or my family. I don’t give a damn what the Sarah Totonchi’s of the liberal out-of-touch world thinks. If anyhting, get tougher on these youngs types and show them what a life of crime is about. Drop the age they can be executed for a death penalty case to the age of fourteen. Also, if the kid is a repeat offender, jail the parent….I would say both parents but you and I both know there’s always just one parent, at most, involved.

By Earl

June 25, 2008 11:38 AM | Link to this

Face it folks, if you to be safe then move to an area where if you see a minority they’re Asian. Blacks and Hispanics will spell out declining property values, declining grades and higher crime in almost all cases. The whiter the area you live, the less crime you’ll be the victim to. Look at the entire state of Maine and look at their crime stats for the entire state compared to the black only areas of one single city. Face it, the less white the more crime and all you bleeding heart libs know this is true.

By jimbo THE FIRST

June 25, 2008 11:58 AM | Link to this

Copyleft is colorblind. He sees only white or black, no gray in his world.

By Haiti Restitution

June 25, 2008 11:58 AM | Link to this

granpa thanks for your feeble attempt to confuse several issues.

Based on your rant it appears that alzheimers has seriously affected what little is left of your brain.

You are clueless granpa. It is time to take away your keys and your keyboard and send you to the old folks home.

How long did it take you to realize that the U.S. is a republic.

After all we do not have a monarchy therefore we are a republic.

The term republic refers to the leadership of a country and has absolutely nothing to do with the form of government.

Communism and democracy refers to the form of government. Please get your facts together.

Time to take your meds grandpa.

Grandpa do you know the difference between restitution and entitlement?

Are you in favor of justice for all people or just a few?

You must be having a bad day or is everyday like this.

By gramps.

By I Have The Answers

June 25, 2008 12:09 PM | Link to this

Since the teacher and parent’s ability to issue meaningful discipline in the home and school (read whippings and groundings) have been castrated by the government, we need these changes:

1) bring back the Reform school for the hoodlums and troublemakers

2) Allow parents of incorrigable kids to let the government (who won’t allow you to whip the foolishness out of your kid) school them until they are adults in a reform school, where their lip and profanity can be met with drill sergent “in your face” rebuttal.

3) Parents who decline this option should be held responsible for their young hoodlum’s crime & gang activity. If you “can’t control them”, let Uncle Sam do it in military style!

4) Go back to pre 1970 school and make these kids dress and act like humans, not hoodlums. Uniforms, proper manners and discipline for profanity, sexual misconduct and drugs should be the norm.

5) Parents, show “tough love” to your teens. Don’t make it easy for them to act like hoodlums and “girls gone wild”. If they have babies, make THEM raise em. Don’t you babysit so they can run the street. If your sons don’t want to go to school or work, put their butts out! And please parents, dress your kids for sucess, not like hoodlums or Braatz dolls.

See, all the answers!

By ann

June 25, 2008 12:34 PM | Link to this

I agree totally with I have the anwsers! you should run for congress, They didn’t have these problems back in 1940’s There children got corected.

By Josh

June 25, 2008 12:42 PM | Link to this

What gets on my nerves are the “PC” people that think spanking their kids is abuse…comon people.

By I Have The Answers

June 25, 2008 12:48 PM | Link to this

Correct Ann, and it isn’t a color or nationality issue either. Both black and white children in the 60’s behaved in schools and acted like citizens on the street. This has come about because:

1) Teachers can no longer issue the “three licks or three days” policy.

2) Parents believe the lies of their teens instead of the teachers.

3) Countless talk radio and TV have made all of society lose respect for authority.

4) Parents and children stopped going to religious services, which teach the values of respect for the law and self, hard work and not cutting corners in life.

By Florida

June 25, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this

Lol, man there’s some real hicks on here. How about following these passages John 8:7…..”If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”-That’s what I thought, so shut up. Hypocrites! Gal6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. That means you liar, cheat, thief, murderer, adulterer, etc… I think I covered everyone on this site who made a comment, working on yourself before being so judgemental…..lol

By Florida

June 25, 2008 12:58 PM | Link to this

Lol, man there’s some real hicks on here. How about following these passages John 8:7…..”If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”-That’s what I thought, so shut up. Hypocrites! Gal6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. That means you liar, cheat, thief, murderer, adulterer, etc… I think I covered everyone on this site who made a comment, working on yourself before being so judgemental…..lol

By Regina

June 25, 2008 1:05 PM | Link to this

The punishment should fit the crime whether the criminal is a youth or adult. The race or background shouldn’t be a factor in punishment. I agree wholeheartedly with prosecuting children as adults for heinous crimes. The influx of thugs in the neighborhood I live in due to rental homes caused by the housing crisis, is horrible.

By I Have The Answers

June 25, 2008 1:06 PM | Link to this

Florida,

Remember that includes you……!

BTW, the passage you quote works in the kingdom of God, not a secular society. We have laws and DO judge criminals.

By Diane

June 25, 2008 1:09 PM | Link to this

As a woman over the age of forty I can easily recall the days when adults demanded and received respect from young people. Not today, no way. You read all kinds of stories of kids hitting teachers, sexually molesting teachers. This would have read like science fiction when I was a kid in school. Kids did some crime back then but nothing on the same scale as they do today. Kids today know school offcials can’t ship them, nor will the parents. A kid can pick up the phone and have a parent arrested. I work with a woman, agood hard working woman who has has some hard luck in life, who has two teens that are under the age of fifteen and out of control. She tried to punish one who was fourteen and the kid had her mom arrested. She lied to the cops that her mom hit her with a hammer. It was a lie. What did the mom do after she spent 12 hours in jail. She drove the girl and her clothes back to the jail and told them they could have her. She told her own daughter, one who had caused her a life of hell in two short years with drugs and all sorts of trouble that she never wanted her back in her house. The girl ended up living with friends and then eventually moved to Florida with a man. I have never heard the mom as much as mention her name since then. I think she’d had enough and just washed her hands of her daughter and the mess the kid caused. Some kids are just evil, down right mean. Her daughter was one.

By Gator_Hater

June 25, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this

Hey Florida,

Talk about “hick”, you take the cake!

BTW — do you still wear dirty cut offs jeans? All Gator fans do!

By Jack

June 25, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this

I read these responses and had to scream really loud to get my anger out. Kids are not adult, no matter what age they are. Their brains are different and not developed yet. They act on impulse and don’t think through their consequences. They are more likely to rehabiliatate themselves in the juvenile system. The adult system will just make them a better criminals. They can be punished in the Juvenile system as well. You don’t have to treat them as adults for punishment. Have you ever experienced the violence in the adult system? I have seen inmated raped, commit suicide, stabbed and much more. That is not the environment for ANY kid.

By I Have The Answers

June 25, 2008 1:24 PM | Link to this

Hey Jack,

I never had to face down 12 yr olds with guns years ago. We need to deal with why 12 yr olds are shooting people.

BTW, if rehab works, why so many repeat offenders?

By Jack

June 25, 2008 1:47 PM | Link to this

I think I explained myself. The research shows that kids are more likely to reoffend if they are in the adult system. If they stay in the juvenile system they are less likely to reoffend. If you put a 12 year old in jail or prison you are throwing away their life. Most juvenile crimes are for drugs and robberies. I think less than 1 percent is for murder or rape.

By jimbo THE FIRST

June 25, 2008 2:09 PM | Link to this

Generally, if a kid is being prosecuted as an adult they did something that pretty much ensures that they’re never seeing the light of day again anyway. At least that’s the case if they’re prosecuted as an adult. It keeps them from walking at 18 or 21 with their record sealed. The kid I mentioned who killed his mother and a bunch of other kids with a rifle is serving 3 consecutive life terms right now.

By I Have The Answers

June 25, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this

Jack, I agree with your point, but it would better serve society to give parents and teachers the tools they need to stop these kids before they get into drug sales. Truant officers, reform schools, parents and teachers who don’t fear the law when they whip their wayward children are all needed, as well as segregating under 18 youth with long sentences from the adult prison population.

It is not justice to have a 14 yr old cap someone in the face and only serve until he is 18. When I was 14, I knew murder was wrong. These aren’t infants who can’t think.

By Jack

June 25, 2008 2:47 PM | Link to this

We all have our own opinions on this matter. I am just telling you from experience that kids should not be tried as adults. Researchers have done study after study on this and it backs up my point. The article even mentions protections that kids get from the government.

By Time to Choose

June 25, 2008 3:02 PM | Link to this

Children should not be charged as adults unless there are special circumstances. Simply put… You can’t have it both ways - Right now if a 14 year-old girl commits any crime they charge her as an adult. But if that same 14 year-old girl sleeps with a 17 year-old boy - he’s tried for statutory rape. Time to get off the fence! They are either children or they are not.

The real problem is raising our children properly by using discipline when necessary. Enough of the psycho babble about being nice and fair to your children or risk losing their self-esteem. There are many of us who turned out just fine!

By Fox News Hotties

June 25, 2008 3:34 PM | Link to this

If a kid over the gae of ten commits murder they should be executed or put in an adult prison for the rest of their life. Who cares if the pos is gang raped or shanked in prison. It’s not like we have a shortage of idiots having these little monsters. Only people taking up for these monsters are idiot unwed parents who have the birth control habits of a stray dog in heat. Let one kill my kid and then the courts set the monster free. You’d never find the pos’s body after I got through with it. Hogs leave no evidence…they crap it all out after they eat the body.

By me

June 25, 2008 4:00 PM | Link to this

“However you and your liberal lackys will soon make this into a racial issue like you always do” -No Grandfather, actually it was Margaret and her husband-the racist, white, conservatives who beat anyone else to the punch

By Grandmother

June 25, 2008 4:03 PM | Link to this

Every situation is different. A 17 year old kid who makes one stupid mistake should not be in jail with adults who are repeat offenders, rapists, drug abusers, etc. If the child has no previous record, no record of violence, no drug offenses, etc and makes one admitedly boneheaded mistake he shouldn’t be thrown to the wolves.

By april

June 25, 2008 4:17 PM | Link to this

Grandmother, so a 17 year old kid who makes one stupid mistake should not be in jail with adults but someone who is 18 should ?

By a parent

June 25, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this

Sadly our Juvenile Court system does not always do what is best for our children. We have a judge in Cherokee County Ga, Judge John Sumner who destroys the lives of children. I am not sure if it is incompetence or job security. He has removed children and places them in even more abusive situations at a young age. When you throw young children into an unstable foster care system and keep them there, chances are they will be delinquents again appearing before the judge. Judge Sumner creates his delinquents.

By Why

June 25, 2008 4:31 PM | Link to this

For a while we had a string of school shootings all across the country. The news showed the carnage. People bleeding and dying. Parents crying for kids they’ll never see graduate high school, marry and make them grandparents. Instead they picked out clothes they thought their kids would want to buried in. Then what did we see? We saw the law officers gingerly handle the young murderers, making sure they didn’t bump their precious little heads while getting in the patrol cars right after they blew the tops off of the head of innocent kids whose only mistake was being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Don’t sit there on your liberal arses and tell me these killers need to be treated like kids. Hell no! They should face the death penalty or at the very least no possible parole from an adult prison. Hell, put them on the June edition of Child Prison Bride, let the other inmates bet for them, fight for them. What about the DC sniper, Malvo or whatever his name was riding around with his older lover/father/mentor ….whatever those two crazies were to one another. As he drive through dark streets randomly shooting people and killing them, thses are acts that warrant people to be treated as kids? Godd lord people, no wonder we are witnessing crimes committed by kids today that are unprecendented in our lifetimes, people are so soft on crime now. Capitol murder cases should not have a minimym age limit for murders carried out like some of these are carried out. Simply put, we owe that so called kid nothing but the maximum punishment. Eye for an eye, no matter what color the eye or in some cases the age.

By Mo

June 25, 2008 5:22 PM | Link to this

What does race have to do with the punishment of a criminal? The courts should decide when it is fair to try a kid as an adult. Oops, then money would become a factor wouldn’t it.?

By gadawg

June 25, 2008 5:22 PM | Link to this

Of all the posts here, I agree with the first one the most written by Charles. If the “child” is not held accountable, then prosecute the “parents” who supposedly “raised” these animals.