How about an 17 year old gang-banger who taunts the victim with "I can do anything I want to you and they can't kill me" as they perform a torture-murder on one of your family members?
I still think 23 hours a day in lockdown while being being "Bubba's new girlfriend" is a lot more or a punishment then a quick needle and death and such a young age.
He's below the age of consent and can not be legally judged to be of the same sound mind as an adult committing the same crime. Put him in jail for as long as we need to, but he's not an adult any more than a 17 year old girl seeking to abort her baby is an adult.
I seriously doubt anyone who commits murder gives any thought to what the punishment will be if they get caught. The constitutional argument is the better one.
Yeah, I guess this'll just mean some more vigilante justice in America.
You can still put him in a small box and leave him there.