11-year-old Pennsylvanian is youngest person in world to face life without parole

From the OP link.............

"According to WTAE in Pittsburgh, the judge's original decision to try Brown as an adult was based on Brown's refusal to admit guilt. Brown's lawyers argued Wednesday that the decision violated his right to be presumed innocent, as well as his right to avoid self-incrimination"

I have to agree with the kids lawyer on this. You either try him as an adult or not you don't force him (lawyers) to admit guilt prior. Wish there were more actual details about the actual case in the article not just about his age.

I will read the article soon and respond for that, but right now there is one thing screaming.

Who the hell gave him a gun???

The person who gave him the gun, either willingly or otherwise should be the person sentenced, not the kid.
Now before anyone says that many 11 year olds are capable of handling guns, let me say that, whether the child is capable of handling a gun or not is not the point, the point is that the person letting a child have the gun should be responsible for all he does with the gun, whether that act be a crime or a heroic one.

For this crimethe person who let him access the gun should be sentenced, while the child should be given a psychiatric evaluation, and counseling to decide the best course for him.

I read the article and the posts after mine, well there seems to be nothing much to say except that insanity runs in the family. Who in their right mind would give a 11 year old a hunting rifle and free access to it?

Allegedly warning members of Houk’s family in December that he wanted to “pop” her in the head, Jordan is accused of shooting Houk precisely there. So he went to jail—not kiddie jail, but real jail.

So when he warned her family no one tried to do anything? really? Not talking to his dad? attempt to get counseling or such? Really its comprehensible.

reply to post by SaturnFX


Im right there with you on the argument.....

It is garbage... IMHO

America is not perfect, evidently. Its justice system is a complete farce. Sure its better than, say, Afghanistan under Taliban rule, but its still unjust. You might as well kill the kid since you're taking away his life (just as he took away lives). But I thought justice wasn't about an eye for eye because that would make the whole world blind?

I just find it hillarious (even though this SHOULD be no joking matter) that a rapist or pedophile can get out in a few years but this kid gets killed. What he did was wrong, but I can't wrap my head around this logic.

I am going to admit I did NOT read about this case, or visit the link, because my opinion cannot be changed on this issue.

This is wrong, on so many levels. Shameful that a so called CIVILIZED country would allow its children, especially its vulnerable sick children like an 11 yr old murderer, to be locked away with no key for ever.

Just shameful and sickening.

There are other ways to deal with this.

It is shameful because the same sick society that created this little murderer will harshly judge them and toss them in the clinker like human garbage without a backward glance.

Until we address and heal WHY we have an 11 yr old murderer on our hands, this type of problem will continue to fester.

reply to post by Portugoal


Yeah I refrained from adding my comments on the Anesty International report about the US being the only country who would place minors in prison for life. I wanted to point out the reason behind this is because other countries, like Iran, will just execute them.

He was presumed guilty by the judge! The only reason he was tried as an adult was because he didn't admit to it!

Making a point > Justice

Here's a little more info on the case

"Eleven-year-old Jordan Brown is accused of killing his father's pregnant fiancé with a hunting rifle. Does that means he belongs in an adult prison with rapists, murderers, and hardened criminals?

The funeral was held Tuesday, and the facts of the case are still unfolding, but police believe that before getting on the school bus last Friday, an 11-year-old named Jordan Anthony Brown shot his father’s pregnant fiancé, Kenzie Marie Houk, with a hunting rifle he’d gotten for Christmas.

Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, has charged Jordan with two counts of first-degree murder in the February 20 shooting, and placed the fifth grader behind bars. Jordan’s new home is the Lawrence County jail’s 8-by-10 suicide-watch cell. Why is a “super-juvenile” being held in something less like juvie and more like a “super-max”?

“That’s when I realized: Oh my goodness, I’m 15 years old,” said Joshua Phillips, serving a life sentence at a facility for adults.

In Pennsylvania, like in most states, a child over the age of ten can be charged and tried as an adult. Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo theorizes that jealously over Houk, her pregnancy, and two young daughters led Jordan to commit premeditated murder, “callous, cold, and calculating.” Allegedly warning members of Houk’s family in December that he wanted to “pop” her in the head, Jordan is accused of shooting Houk precisely there. So he went to jail—not kiddie jail, but real jail."

Link Here


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Originally posted by Xcathdra
reply to post by Portugoal

 

Yeah I refrained from adding my comments on the Anesty International report about the US being the only country who would place minors in prison for life. I wanted to point out the reason behind this is because other countries, like Iran, will just execute them.

I was thinking about this too, but this kid might as well be dead. Let's be honest. There is no second chance for him once he's sentenced.

An 11 year old can't comprehend spending the next 70 years in a cell. It's an eternity and if he could, he'd probably rather die. Sounds horrible but its the truth.

Originally posted by HoldTheBeans
an 11-year-old named Jordan Anthony Brown shot his father’s pregnant fiancé, Kenzie Marie Houk, with a hunting rifle he’d gotten for Christmas.

Wow!
Really? A hunting rifle he recieved for christmas.


Please don't tell me he had free access to his present.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


If an 11 year old can face life in prison without parole, then why can't he vote?

?Beats me, let's just forget about it, it is US of A after all, justice - freedom - liberty and human rights is secondary, national security is primary.

It seems that the only time a non-adult is ever considered an adult is when it comes time to punish someone. You can be overseas in a war for three years or spend three years doing hard core porn but if they started the day they turned 18 neither one of them is considered adult enough to walk into a store and buy a beer. I think the U.S. needs to decide on what an adult is and then go with it.

Originally posted by reatarded
reply to post by DimensionalDetective

 

If an 11 year old can face life in prison without parole, then why can't he vote?

?Beats me, let's just forget about it, it is US of A after all, justice - freedom - liberty and human rights is secondary, national security is primary.

That's what I'm talking about! Rather than fix injustices like this, the government will eventually just role out death sentences to any person (age irrelevant) who commits any crime (severity irrelevant) in the name of national security. Or they'll just take away everyone's access to guns... or both. Go National Security!!!

Well, if you claim an 11-year old is the same as a responsible adult, I guess they can sign contracts, get laid , and drink too, right?

Geez, what's the point in making any distinction between childhood and adulthood at all if you don't admit there's any real difference when they screw up?

Originally posted by apacheman
Well, if you claim an 11-year old is the same as a responsible adult, I guess they can sign contracts, get laid , and drink too, right?

Geez, what's the point in making any distinction between childhood and adulthood at all if you don't admit there's any real difference when they screw up?

I can definetly see pedo's just licking their lips at this question. What's the point of having a sex offenders registry? Let's get rid of that after this landmark decision.

Let's just bring down every age restriction. Oh, but alcohol. No. Go fight us a war for 3 years, do a little bit of gambling, smoke cigarettes, do some porn, vote (as if matters), then when you come back you drink.

It appears this kid picked the wrong state. Pennslyvania leages the US in juveniles serving life terms with 444. Apparently there is an exclusion rule that requires all charged with murder to be tried as adults.

Nearly 500 teens serving life terms in Pa. prisons
Monday, September 29, 2008
By Moriah Balingit, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Pennsylvania leads the nation in teen lifers -- prisoners serving life without parole for crimes they committed as minors -- and last week legislators met to examine the issue for the first time.

In a courtroom in Pittsburgh, 18-year-old twins Devon and Jovon Knox faced exactly that fate -- life without parole -- for killing 18-year-old Jehru Donaldson in a botched car-jacking in July 2007, when they were 17.

They join the 444 teen lifers currently held in Pennsylvania prisons, which is about a fifth of the nation's total and 110 more than runner-up Louisiana, according to a May 2008 report by Human Rights Watch."

Link Here

Also federal courts hold no age requirements. You get charged with murder in fed court age doesn't matter.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


Yes, to me as a New Zealander it's completely horrifying. The youngest "murderer" here (New Zealand) was a 12 year old boy, and he has now been released... (I put 'murderer in quotes, because he was simply unlucky enough to have been with a gang of much older teens when *they* killed the victim, but all the fuss was about him...)
No way, does a child deserve life in prison.
Vicky

Originally posted by MavRck
surprise surprise another big 'gun got out of the bag' case being covered....

*sits back and watches the constitution burn*

*not for/against*

If this keeps up we might just see John Titor's future civil war. Or maybe not. Everyone seems to be asleep, while the Constitution is dropped in the shredder. Page by page...

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