The issue, KBM, isn't about retribution. We don't have a retributary system. It's irrelevant how Jeff would feel if a loved one if his were killed. And it's irrelevant how you would feel if the same happened to you. Now, I (and although i don't know, probably Jeff) believed that the system should be rehabilitational. Unfortunately for us, it isn't just that. It's also punitive. So, with a justice system that does allow for punitive sentences, where can we get with justification for long sentences in this case? The argument hinges upon culpability, imo. Can someone who is 13 be truly culpable? Before you answer, think about a variety of questions: Did the perpetrator understand the value of life as an adult would... the finality? Did the perpetrator have an adequate understanding of the justice system? Could the perpetrator be expected to rationally understand the consequences of his actions? Can a minor be expected to immunize himself to unwanted influence? Supposedly, parents have a great deal of power influencing a child. Why just a parent? Why not someone else? If the child is truly so easily influenced, can he be truly culpable for something he was persuaded to do by an adult? If this is not true, then why are his rights limited in other spheres? In this case, how much was the incident precipitated by the sexual misconduct of another party? Can any minor be expected to be competent after such a shattering event? IMO, someone at 13 cannot be fully culpable for such actions. Now, I do agree it gets harder to determine this as the perpetrator gets older. With a 17 year old, it's a tougher case. But at 13? Please.
I started high school at 14. I don't think my perspective on death changed significantly in terms of its finality between 13 & 14. I certainly understood the implications of bashing someone's brains in with a baseball bat. How about you?
Boring. And, even worse, sensationalized. The actual means of death is irrelevant to my question. Like to use unnecessary adjectives as well? And, actually, one study actually indicated that many early teens actually do not understand death due to television. Many early-teens have never actually known anybody who has died. But they have seen people re-appear in another episode of a show after being shot in the last one. Believe it or not, concepts are not instinct - we're not born understanding death, and until we experience it in an immediate context, we don't truly know what it means. Yes, most of us do learn about it pretty quickly. Friends die, dogs die, gold fish die... but some people don't have pets and most people a 13 year old has known in his life will still be alive. Perhaps, at most, a great grandmother or something unless the child is very unlucky. And while most parents explain at some point, that isn't the same thing in terms of understanding. You may know, but that's different from understanding the full implications.
The boys' first post-conviction visit came Saturday. Their mother Janet French, a former nightclub dancer, didn't show, but their grandparents and aunt did and they shared their story with Molly Barrows of ABCNEWS' Pensacola, Fla., affiliate WEAR-TV. Shannon Castro, the boys' aunt, says they didn't seem to understand that their life would never be the same. Not Getting a Grasp "I don't really think that they can grasp that the rest of your life, or 20 years of your life. I don't think 13- and 14-year-olds can think past next week, or next month, much less 20 years," Castro said. The King brothers were tried as adults and faced mandatory life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder in the Nov. 26, 2001, slaying of their father, Terry King. Instead, the jury found them guilty of second-degree murder. The boys are facing 22 years to life without parole, but the judge is allowed to go below the minimum when they are sentenced Oct. 17. They could also face 30 years in prison for arson. The boys initially confessed their involvement in the killing. In taped statements to police, both said they killed their father because they feared he would punish them for running away. Four months later, the boys recanted their confession and said Rick Chavis, a former family friend, was the real killer. Chavis, 40, was also charged with the crime and went before a separate jury. The verdict for Chavis was sealed until after the jury in the boys' case reached a verdict. Chavis, a convicted child molester who also allegedly engaged in underage sex with Alex (the younger brother), was acquitted of the murder charges. The boys, who were bouncing and twirling in their chairs outside the jurors' presence during the trial, appeared shaken by the verdict. Derek bowed his head while Alex wiped away tears as his attorney put his arm around him. The boys' grandmother, Linda Walker, says Alex, 13, seems to be handling everything better than Derek, 14, who fears he will be forgotten behind bars. "Well, I told him [Alex] that we'd always be there for him and that things is gonna get better. He said, "Cool!" Just like a little kid would," she said. ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ While Alex is a quiet child, said Walker, Derek is loving and "happy-go-lucky," she said. "You just have to know them, they're not them type of kids that could ever do any kind of killing," she said. Walker says Derek was heartbroken that his mother didn't visit them over the weekend. Walker said she had been sick and had to get home. She said the first question he asked was: "Where's my mom?" "When I told Janet what he said, what Derek said, she [French] just busted out crying over the telephone," Walker said. "She was so upset because she couldn't see them." French has said that King sent the boys to a crisis home for children in 1994 because he could no longer support them. King and French never married, but lived together and had Alex and Derek together. The boys were sent to foster homes in 1995 and French moved out of King's place. Alex moved back in with King a month later while Derek stayed with his foster parents for six years. Derek's foster family returned him to King's home just last year. Walker said the boys' mother, who left the courtroom in tears after the verdict, had problems with more than just finances when it came to the kids. "She went to a doctor and the doctor told her that ever since Alex's been born she had post partem depression and that — that has been a great impact in her life," Walker said. But the family says French is ready to be a mother now. "She's a very changed person from what she used to be," Walker said. "People call her a lap dancer. She never was a lap dancer, she danced for a very short time and then she waitressed at the topless bars," she said. Walker and Castro said they were shocked by the verdict. "I really didn't feel that they had the evidence, knowing that I know the boys were innocent, period," Castro said. "I got my hope, and I'm hoping that somebody will see that these kids were wrongly charged. They were wrongly charged and wrongly convicted," she said. One Killing, Two Trials The controversy surrounding these cases stemmed from the unusual possibility that both the King brothers and Chavis could have been convicted of the same crimes with two seemingly clashing theories Chavis still faces trial next month on lewd and lascivious acts charges for his alleged sexual relationship with Alex.
These kids are some evil frickin' human beings...that's all I know. Maybe if they were 8 years old you'd have a better point, but 13? My God, there are 13 year olds who are smarter and more mature than adults for crying out loud! You can't understand how a 13 year old can go to prison for murder? I can't understand how a 13 year old can beat their father to death with a baseball bat.
