Line Drawn in Once Case Dissolves in Another

Sasha Mora
Social Control
blog #7

Line Drawn in One Case Dissolves in Another

This article was found in the New York Times. This article deals with social control in the aspect of punishment. It discusses rules and standards of the law. One example used in the article is that children can not be up for the death penalty if the crime was committed before midnight of their eighteenth birthday. Therefore, making the same crime or murder after the moment an individual turns eighteen available to be punished more severely. Another issue that this article discusses is whether a teenager could be punished to the extent that they can be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. The argument for both sides seems to be whether or not a teenager can turn their life around after committing a crime no matter how serious. The mentally retarded are ineligible to be sentenced in life in prison as well. However, this situation seems to be accepted universally without very much debate. The mentally retarded must truly be so by passing three qualifications; low IQ scores, a lack of fundamental social and practical skills and that both conditions were present before age 18. The scores must score under about 70. There are two cases in which the court took their age into consideration, but did not come to the same conclusion. Age is always considered in cases but there are not regulations stating exactly how they should be determined. I do not know how I feel about this issue exactly however I think in some cases the rules do seem unjust and if one individual is sentenced to something and given a lesser punishment due to age, then this rule should definitely apply to all. For example, I once heard about a school shooting that involved an eleven and thirteen year old boy. The two killed numerous classmates and injured even more. However, after they carried out their sentences for the crimes they committed they no longer even had a trace of the even on their record. I do not think that this is right. I understand that they were children when they committed this crime, but the people whom these crimes effected did not care about these children’s ages. The age of the children did not help to console those hurt or affected in any way. In this sense I do not believe that age should play such a difference to the extent that the records are erased. I found this article very interesting and controversial.



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/us/24bar.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=punishment&st=cse