Thread: When kids kill..Should they just get off?

I should have changed it to 'when kids try to kill'


Charges reduced in 'Jena 6' attack

JENA, La. - Prosecutors on Tuesday reduced the attempted murder charges against two more teenagers among the "Jena Six," a group of black high school students who were arrested following an attack on a white schoolmate.

Five of the teens were originally charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, carrying sentences of up to 80 years in prison. The sixth faces undisclosed juvenile charges.

Civil rights advocates have decried the charges as unfairly harsh.

On Tuesday, charges against Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw were reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. That same reduction was made earlier for Mychal Bell, who was tried and found guilty and could be sentenced to 22 1/2 years at a hearing Sept. 20.

Also awaiting trial are Robert Bailey Jr. and Bryant Purvis, who still face attempted murder charges, and the unidentified juvenile.

The attack on Justin Barker, 18, came amid tense race relations in Jena, a mostly white town of 3,000 in north-central Louisiana where racial tensions have grown since incidents that started last school year at Jena High. After a black student sat under a tree on the school campus where white students traditionally congregated, three nooses were hung in the tree.

Students accused of placing the nooses were suspended from school for a short period.

The six black students were accused of beating and kicking Barker on Dec. 4. A motive for the attack was never established. Barker was treated at a hospital emergency room and released after about three hours.

Shaw's attorney, George Tucker, said Tuesday that he still doesn't believe his client will get a fair trial in Jena.

Shaw himself has dreams of attending Gramling State University. "Just drop all the charges and let us go on with our lives," the teenager told CNN Tuesday.

How old was the killer?

Wait, wait, wait.

Isn't there a little something-- stupid though it may be --called a hate crime that is supposed to escalate the severity of the charges and consequences, as opposed to reducing them?

What the FUCK.

To answer the question, "When kids kill....should they just get off"
Not no, but hell no. Not of it was intentional, they should do the time that an adult would do. Remember the two kids in Jonesboro, Ar that picked off their classmates & i believe a teacher? Those two kids got time, but one is out already because of his age. This happens all the time & it needs to stop. Another outrage are the pedophiles being given probation or maybe 30 days in jail!!

I don't think they should be let off but really young ones should certainly be treated differently. There was the case in the 60s of Mary Bell, a ten year old who killed 2 little boys. She really needed pychiatric help in a secure institute, not just locking up and throwing away the key. Even the Judge who sentenced her remarked that it was a tragedy that at that time there wasn't an institute which could securely treat her. We have also have the case of the two 10 year olds who killed Jaimie Bulger who obviously wern't right in the head. Interesting to note that all these child murderers are now out and leading productive lives. Mary Bell is even married and has a daughter of her own.
I think when you get teenagers murdering though that the sentencing should pretty much be the same as for adults apart from capital punishment but I am opposed to that full stop anyway.

Can we hold their parents responsible? And if we deem their parents to be...not right in the head...the grandparents as well?

Originally Posted by splansing

Wait, wait, wait.

Isn't there a little something-- stupid though it may be --called a hate crime that is supposed to escalate the severity of the charges and consequences, as opposed to reducing them?

What the FUCK.

The article says: "A motive for the attack was never established."

That means it's a hate crime, but hate crimes laws are intended for white people only, so no legally recognizeable motive exists.

And I have to add that if the attack was done without stateable motive, then clearly the people were crimimally insane at the time of the attack and should be incarcerated indefinitely in a ice-bath-every-morning-electro-shock-every-afternoon state mental hospital until they can be cured of their disease.

Originally Posted by Zarathustra

How old was the killer?

Not trying to justify what has happened in Louisana in this case, but there was no killing, he was beaten but out of the hospital in 3 hours?

My question would be should they have been charged with attempted murder in the first place ?

And I think the other question would be, since there were charged with attempted murder, were they being treated more harshly then there white counter parts would have been ?

Im not excusing any of the behavior but it seems to me when you have a school with students hanging noose's from trees, you got a BIG problem that should have been dealt with, ie not only punishing those involved but possibly some internal classes to deal with the the obvious racial undertones in the school.

Hanging noose's in tree's is simply NOT normal behavior for teenagers (which does NOT excuse the beating that Barker took).

Originally Posted by Michele

My question would be should they have been charged with attempted murder in the first place ?

Depends on what really happened.

Originally Posted by Michele

And I think the other question would be, since there were charged with attempted murder, were they being treated more harshly then there white counter parts would have been ?

Not relevant to the case at hand.

Originally Posted by Michele

Im not excusing any of the behavior but it seems to me when you have a school with students hanging noose's from trees, you got a BIG problem that should have been dealt with, ie not only punishing those involved but possibly some internal classes to deal with the the obvious racial undertones in the school.

We're talking Loseranna here. What do you expect?

Originally Posted by Michele

Hanging noose's in tree's is simply NOT normal behavior for teenagers (which does NOT excuse the beating that Barker took).

Sure it is. It's called "poor taste". Some teenagers never grow out of it.

Where's fucking Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton????