[from occupied ga]

Yes It all depends on the laws. I’m not sure WHY the laws exist that way other than some misbegotten belief that teen criminals will change their ways if granted the mercy that they didn’t show their victims. Personally I could forgive minor infractions, but killing someone AND not by error in judgment, but by intent and only for the fun of it should be a public execution offense.

[hanamizu]

“I’m not sure WHY the laws exist that way other than some misbegotten belief that teen criminals will change their ways ...”

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That’s part of it, of course. And then there’s the concept of ‘age of reason’, if a 6-year-old shoots and kills someone, I believe no state will charge him or her with murder since it is believed that 6-year-olds aren’t old enough to understand the difference between right and wrong. The kid who shot his teacher in VA (?) will get off for that reason.

When I worked with delinquents (many decades ago) I had two ‘students’ who were murderers. One killed his victim with an axe. But they were both 13 at the time of their crimes and were sent to what was called a ‘youth center’. They were never charged with murder but rather ‘delinquency’ which was the practice in MO at the time. By law they were released on their 18th birthdays.