Curiosisity

A recent news story brings up the troubling question of whether teenagers should be tried as juveniles or adults when they are being tried for a crime, especially for one of this nature:

Suspects in video beating could get life in prison - CNN.com

What are your thoughts? What is the "cutoff" between a juvenile and adult? Should this be changed depending on what the charges are against the accused?

citygirlsmom

Hmmmm, I don't know on this one...its a tough call...these girls were sophsticated enough to plan the attack, have look outs, video tape it and it wasn't some sudden spur of the moment outburst, not a rash decision....to be explained away somehow by their "brain development"

So maybe as adult, but not life....at least until 25

what they did was horrendous

citygirlsmom

POLK COUNTY, Fla. -- Cheerleaders accused of an "animalistic" ambush beating on a girl joked in a holding cell after their arrests and wondered about missing cheer practice after the alleged attack, according to a report.
PHOTOS: Attack Lasted 30 Minutes
"They seem to have absolutely no remorse at all," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. "I don't understand the sheer violence."
Video of the Florida girl being punched and beaten at a Polk County home has gained national attention in recent days.
Judd said that he now wants the six girls and two boys involved in the attack charged as adults.

Report: Girls In Cheerleader Beating Joked In Holding Cell After Arrests - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando

Northstarmom

What those teens -- ages 14-18-- did was reprehensible, but I believe in redemption, and I think life in prison would be too long a sentence.

I definitely believe, however, that they need to serve some kind of time, and also need major rehabilitation.

Northstarmom

This part of the story particularly was alarming:

"The idea of girls administering a vicious beating so they can post the video online may seem shocking, but it's becoming an increasingly common scenario, according to experts and news reports....

A search for "girl fight" on YouTube gets thousands of results, and a suggestion to also try "girl fight at school, boy girl fight" and other search terms. There's at least one Web site devoted exclusively to videos of girls fighting.

In 2003, 25 percent of high school girls said they had been in a physical fight in the past year, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The figure for boys was 40.5 percent.)

A Justice Department report released in 2006 showed that by age 17, 21 percent of girls said they had assaulted someone with the intent to cause serious harm...

Judd, the Polk County sheriff, said an important part of the plan in the Lakeland attack was to post the video of the beating on YouTube to humiliate and embarrass the victim.

"It's the next stage of cyberbullying," psychologist Susan Lipkins said. "They want to show what they're doing."