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Kids Serving Life

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  • #1

    Kids Serving Life

    On planet Earth, there are 2237 children serving life sentences (or adults who were sentenced to life as children). Of that number 2225 of them are in the United States. The entire rest of the planet, where 95% of the population lives, accounts for only twelve kids with life sentences. We account for 99.5% of all life sentences given to kids.

    Are American teenagers really that much more dangerous?

    The source for the numbers is PBS's Frontline magazine.
    When Kids Get Life | FRONTLINE | PBS
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/whenkidsgetlife/
    The U.S. is one of the very few countries in the world that allows children under eighteen to be prosecuted as adults and sentenced to life without parole. In Colorado, between 1992 and 2005, 45 juveniles between fifteen and eighteen were sentenced to prison without the hope of ever being released. Last spring, the state's legislature eased its tough laws targeting juvenile offenders. The state passed a bill that made parole possible after 40 years in prison, but the measure did not apply retroactively to the 45 former juveniles now in Colorado's prison system. Producer Ofra Bikel visits five young men in Colorado sentenced to life without parole to examine their crimes and punishment, the laws that sanctioned their convictions, and the prospect of never being free again.
    Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...
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  • #2
    or are we just more heartless?
    or have better legal systems?
    or better policemen?
    Monkey!!!

    Comment

    • #3
      Something tells me you are not very knowledgable of the prison population demographics of China, India and Africa where 65%+ of people live.

      What does them being children matter, it is what they did and how/why they did it that counts. If anything we need to be more strict, not less.
      "The DPRK is still in a state of war with the U.S. It's called a black out." - Che explaining why orbital nightime pictures of NK show few lights. Seriously.

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      • #4
        A lot of them get life on felony murder charges. They were doing something illegal and someone died, either accidentally or on purpose. Everyone who was involved in the commission of the first crime gets life.
        Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...

        Comment

        • #5
          I would imagine that in some other countries, they'd simply be killed, instead of being kept in prison for life. I could be wrong, of course. I don't know all that much about the criminal justice systems in, say, China, India, Indonesia, Brazil...

          -Arrian
          grog want tank...Grog Want Tank... GROG WANT TANK!

          The trick isn't to break some eggs to make an omelette, it's convincing the eggs to break themselves in order to aspire to omelettehood.

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          • #6
            the stories from that link are so sad

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            • #7
              that's why I never follow links
              Monkey!!!

              Comment

              • #8
                I don't know all that much about the criminal justice systems in, say, China, India, Indonesia, Brazil...
                Don't feel too bad, nobody does, including the source in the OP.

                A lot of them get life on felony murder charges. They were doing something illegal and someone died, either accidentally or on purpose. Everyone who was involved in the commission of the first crime gets life.
                I don't see the problem, the OP is stated as if you find something wrong for them getting life for those sorts of things.

                In any case, Ozzy will be proud
                "The DPRK is still in a state of war with the U.S. It's called a black out." - Che explaining why orbital nightime pictures of NK show few lights. Seriously.

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                • #9
                  /me plays world's smallest violin.

                  I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
                  For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

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                  • #10
                    '
                    "I definitely didn't understand the gravity of what it means to kill somebody. I mean, I didn't think they'd feel pain. I didn't think that anybody else would be affected."


                    Cue the Timberlake.

                    The only thing this teenager didn't understand is why his lame (for justifying murder) didn't get him hugs and kisses. There are a couple intermediate steps before killing people.
                    "The DPRK is still in a state of war with the U.S. It's called a black out." - Che explaining why orbital nightime pictures of NK show few lights. Seriously.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      I just read all five stories, and all five kids (plus 4 others alluded to) are exactly where they should be.
                      "The DPRK is still in a state of war with the U.S. It's called a black out." - Che explaining why orbital nightime pictures of NK show few lights. Seriously.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Kids Serving Life

                        Originally posted by chegitz guevara
                        On planet Earth, there are 2237 children serving life sentences (or adults who were sentenced to life as children). Of that number 2225 of them are in the United States. The entire rest of the planet, where 95% of the population lives, accounts for only twelve kids with life sentences. We account for 99.5% of all life sentences given to kids.
                        I work in market research and we lie with statistics every day. BUT even we wouldn't draw any conclusions from what's presented here.
                        As noted by other posters. Yeah we probably have some real credible stats from other countries on this one.
                        I'm sure a lot of countries just kill them or sell them into some type of slavery.
                        I would love to see the qualifications and definitions for this one.

                        Anyone that thinks that there are realy only 12 kids serving the equivalent of life sentences in the ENTIRE WORLD out side the US, is really naive.
                        It's almost as if all his overconfident, absolutist assertions were spoonfed to him by a trusted website or subreddit. Sheeple
                        RIP Tony Bogey & Baron O

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Five Stories - Trevor Jones | When Kids Get Life | FRONTLINE | PBS
                          http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/whenkidsgetlife/five/jones.html


                          I found the moaning about this guy sickening. He pointed a gun at someone and told them to be quiet about him robbing them and we're supposed to believe that isn't a threat?
                          I make no bones about my moral support for [terrorist] organizations. - chegitz guevara
                          For those who aspire to live in a high cost, high tax, big government place, our nation and the world offers plenty of options. Vermont, Canada and Venezuela all offer you the opportunity to live in the socialist, big government paradise you long for. –Senator Rubio

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            I would imagine that in some other countries, they'd simply be killed, instead of being kept in prison for life. I could be wrong, of course. I don't know all that much about the criminal justice systems in, say, China, India, Indonesia, Brazil...


                            Not really. There have only been a handful of juvenile executions in recent years (most of which were done by Iran; we were number two until SCOTUS outlawed the practice in 2005). HRW and AI seem to have somewhat different numbers, but it looks to be no more than several a year.
                            Last edited by Ramo; July 25, 2007, 15:58.
                            "Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way. "
                            -Bokonon

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                            • #15
                              HRW and AI seem to have somewhat different numbers, but it looks to no more than several a year.
                              Those are merely the executions we know about.
                              "The DPRK is still in a state of war with the U.S. It's called a black out." - Che explaining why orbital nightime pictures of NK show few lights. Seriously.

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