14 year old charged with murdering new born child

[m00]

I tend to agree, but I'm playing a bit of the devil's advocate on this. If it can be shown in a court of law that my negligence led to my daughters actions then both she and I need to be punished. In this case I don't think that she deserves life in prison because I don't belief she is old enough to truly understand the nature of what she has done. I'm not sure that all 14 years olds understand giving birth to a baby has certain responsibilities attached and that one of those is protecting the child.

Just an open question... what can be done about unfit parents? I don't mean neglect, or poisoning, or beating them every day... I mean parents who just aren't parents... don't teach their kids how to behave. Obviously we don't want the state to take them away, that would make things worse. But we're about to hit a generation of children that have grown up more or less without supervision and haven't been taught right from wrong.

I suspect that since she hid the fact from her parents that she was pregnant she probably feared their response to finding out. In her mind she had to kill the baby in order to persist with the coverup. I feel her intent was more based on maintaining the lie and the killing was a consequence of that thought process. I'm not condoning what she did. She murdered a baby and needs to be held accountable. I just question the rush to judgement that she is to be punished as an adult. If she was 17, then I would not feel this way but I keep fresh in my mind that that 51 has a way of forgetting what 14 was like.

Well, I don't believe we should ever punish a child as an adult... on purely philosophical grounds.

I agree with our assessment of her intent. It probably never even crossed her mind that this was "wrong," I mean on some deep gut level. It's like... Hitler-logic. What worries me is that I doubt this is an isolated thing. So really there are two issues... what do we do about this specific case, and what do we do about the "disease" so to speak, if this specific case is a symptom. Also somewhat relevant, they say that a sense of right-from-wrong isn't fully developed in most people until their early 20s. Not to condone what she did (obviously), but why parents can't pretend like a teenager has all the faculties of an adult.

[FlaGator]

Just an open question... what can be done about unfit parents? I don't mean neglect, or poisoning, or beating them every day... I mean parents who just aren't parents... don't teach their kids how to behave. Obviously we don't want the state to take them away, that would make things worse. But we're about to hit a generation of children that have grown up more or less without supervision and haven't been taught right from wrong.



Well, I don't believe we should ever punish a child as an adult... on purely philosophical grounds.

I agree with our assessment of her intent. It probably never even crossed her mind that this was "wrong," I mean on some deep gut level. It's like... Hitler-logic. What worries me is that I doubt this is an isolated thing. So really there are two issues... what do we do about this specific case, and what do we do about the "disease" so to speak, if this specific case is a symptom. Also somewhat relevant, they say that a sense of right-from-wrong isn't fully developed in most people until their early 20s. Not to condone what she did (obviously), but why parents can't pretend like a teenager has all the faculties of an adult.

I'm not sure what you can do to or for the parents. Once we start officially defining what it is to be a good parent we start treading on parent's liberty to raise children as they see fit. One day someone may say home schooling is bad parenting or raising them with religious beliefs is abuse. The problem is that most everything starts with good intentions and the zealots grap the new rules and run with them. This is a slippery slope if there ever was one.

[Hawkgirl]

This is really not much more different that Obama's stance on survivors of botched abortions. Obama was the only Illinois senator who rose to speak against a bill that would have protected babies who survived late term labor-induced abortion. He objected that if the bill passed, and a nine-month-old "fetus" survived a late-term labor-induced abortion was deemed to be a person who had a right to live, then the law would "forbid abortions to take place." It's one of the few bills that he didn't vote PRESENT on. He's a true representation of a decaying society.

[Rockntractor]

This is really not much more different that Obama's stance on survivors of botched abortions. Obama was the only Illinois senator who rose to speak against a bill that would have protected babies who survived late term labor-induced abortion. He objected that if the bill passed, and a nine-month-old "fetus" survived a late-term labor-induced abortion was deemed to be a person who had a right to live, then the law would "forbid abortions to take place." It's one of the few bills that he didn't vote PRESENT on. He's a true representation of a decaying society.

Hear it right from the horses ass.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012...ortions-video/

and more
http://www.akdart.com/obama61.html

[Hawkgirl]

Hear it right from the horses ass.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012...ortions-video/

and more
http://www.akdart.com/obama61.html

I find it scary that someone with such little regard for life is pushing his version for Healthcare reform. The Affordable Care Act. It's affordable for one reason.

[NJCardFan]

I was thinking the same thing. This tragedy is a symptom of a sick society, where there is no dignity nor respect for human life, nor are people held accountable for their actions. Nor are adults held accountable for the actions of their children. This is the age of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Yes there is. Convicted murderers on death row. That's about it.