Nathaniel Abraham was the youngest person to be tried in adult court. He was eleven years old when he killed an 18 year old. This makes me question the adult system. I still don't know the requirements for being tried under adult court. I’m assuming that it is based on a judge’s discretion. How does a judge determine this? How can an eleven year old boy get tried in a system that deals with mass murderers who are already fully developed adults? There is no question that his mind is not yet developed. He can clearly be rehabilitated and once again become a fully functioning member of society.
Since the boy has pleaded guilty he has spent some time in jail. Since he has recently been let go, he is back in jail on drug charges at 22. From the looks of the pictures on the internet, jail has not been good for him. I also recently found out that there is a group that is very much for charging juvenile defenders with adult punishments. The group is called Adult Crime Adult Time. They think that if a kid is mature enough to play with guns then they can handle the consequences. I tend to agree. If someone is mature enough to commit an adult crime then they should face consequences. The degree of the consequences, I believe, should vary. The mind needs to mature. I believe that not everybody can be “corrected” with jail. However, young people are an exception. They can learn. They can fix the problems they had when they were young with the right care.
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/nathaniel_abraham_killer_at_11.html
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