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| Teen lifers a burden for state's prisons |
| By detnews.com |
| Published: 09/14/2009 |
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Lansing -- Michigan's high number of teens sentenced to life in prison without parole has child advocates questioning laws that give judges that option. Behind bars are 346 teens who are serving life without parole for crimes they committed between the ages of 14 and 17, according to the Department of Corrections. A study by the University of Texas says Michigan has the second most such inmates in the country. The report also says Michigan is among the harshest in the way it treats teens accused of major crimes. Michigan's laws are unusual in that they allow juvenile judges to impose adult penalties on children too young to be transferred to adult criminal court, according to the report by the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs. "Children simply aren't as culpable as adults because their brains aren't fully developed yet, and they are much more capable of rehabilitation," said Michele Deitch, an adjunct professor at the University of Texas and principal investigator of the study. The number of teens sentenced to life in Michigan could climb following a recent rash of crimes in Metro Detroit that police say were committed by teens. In one of the more high-profile incidents, 12-year-old Demarco Harris is charged with shooting a 24-year-old woman to death as she sat in her car on West Outer Drive. His preliminary exam is set for Sept. 25. Harris was charged as a juvenile, but with "adult designation" -- meaning Judge Leslie Kim Smith, who will oversee his trial in Wayne County Juvenile Court, has wide discretion when it comes to sentencing. If Harris is found guilty, he can be charged as a juvenile or an adult, or the judge can opt to review his conduct at age 19 and resentence him as an adult or juvenile. If sentenced as an adult, Harris could face life in prison with no chance for parole. Read More. |
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Whats the big deal about juveniles that committ adult crimes? Teens have no respect for life and it doesn't matter what innocent bystander is there that gets hurt also. I'm sure if a teen would kill or seriously hurt one of your love ones you wouldn't be so ready to treat them as kids. I have worked with juveniles and they just seem lost and continue to come back to jail until they reach adulthood. I'm sure the judge didn't sentence them with life without have cause to do so. A lot of the time they show no remorse for their crimes and are looking for the victim. They brag about their crimes like its cool.Maybe if they got the death penalty also they would understand how permanent death is.