As this video clip from CNN shows, the U.S. Supreme Court is going to take a case involving the legality of charging juveniles as adults in cases where death does not occur.  This is the same court that, in 2005, ruled that teenagers are not mentally mature enough to ever deserve the death sentence.  Dare we hope, based on that previous ruling, that the highest court in the land will again decide on the side of justice and declare that children are not ever developed or mature enough to be charged as adults UNTIL THEY ARE ADULTS?  The caveat that no deaths have occurred in  the case is an obvious nod to the “tough on crime” folks, but even so, this would be a very big step in the right direction.

To those who consider it “justice” that children be locked up with adults, I would ask: how do you explain that?  How is it justice to hold someone accountable under a standard that they do not meet?  Guilt in our justice system depends a good deal on the criminality of the offenders intent, just as much as on the actual commission of the crime.  Which is why murder is a Capitol crime, whereas involuntary manslaughter is not.   Justice demands that some restitution be made for crimes, humans demand that the “guilty” suffer and perhaps die for their crimes.

It is easy to view the world in this way, just so long as it is not your child that is the one found guilty.  As long as the horrible stories we hear of abuse and violence happen in other peoples families, it is easy to play judge and jury and stick to the empty mantra “adult crime, adult time.”  However, when it is our own child, it is not so easy.  Perhaps, instead of seeing a monster, we would see an impressionable, immature, underdeveloped child that deserves a second chance.  Perhaps, rather than howling for blood, we would realize that justice involves respecting the rights of all parties, not just the victims.  It is easy to see black and white when one has no skin in the game.  Actually knowing the accused child, and knowing first hand that he or she is not a monster changes things a bit.

Teenagers lack the reasoning ability and the perspective that adults have, that adults need to fully comprehend the crimes they commit.  If the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes this fact, it will be a great victory.

In a recent article from the Denver Daily News Mr. Ted Tow, the executive director of the Colorado District Attorneys Council insisted that cases involving juveniles were always “carefully examined” by DA’s prior to determining if they will seek sentencing as an adult.

While it is nice to hear that cases are “carefully examined” by DA’s (and honestly, is that not simply the minimum standard?) examining those cases is not the prerogative of the prosecutor’s office; prosecuting them is. Judges do not have to please political supporters and worry about votes and elections. Judges do not have to fear making the tough, but morally correct, decisions;  DA’s do.  I would not want to place my child at the mercy of a DA–especially one that feigns objectivity when his or her imperative is prosecution.

Dec. 2, 2009 DENVER, Colo. – A recent poll of Colorado voters found that by a margin of nearly 2 to 1, the public believes that judges, not District Attorneys, should be responsible for deciding how to prosecute children. Conducted by national pollsters Ridder Braden, Inc. on November 6, the poll found that more than 65% of Colorado voters favor leaving the decision about how to try juveniles up to a judge.

There are currently hundreds of young men and women serving decades – even life sentences – in Colorado prisons. The decision to try a 14, 15, 16 or 17-year-old as an adult in each case is made by one person — a District Attorney. District Attorneys are not required to follow any guidelines and do not have to document how they made their decision. There are no checks and balances and no hearing before a judge. Prosecutors generally make decisions about whether to “direct file” children within 72 hours .

Opponents of direct file feel this leaves defense teams too little time to gather relevant facts regarding the circumstances surrounding a crime or a young defendant’s state of mind. According to Mary Ellen Johnson, Executive Director of Pendulum Juvenile Justice, the problem is really one of impartiality in the judicial system. “District Attorneys are not impartial judges,” says Johnson. “They often have a political interest in prosecuting kids as adults.”

A growing coalition of advocates, including the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center, Colorado Criminal Defense Bar and Youth Transformation Center ask if a system based on direct file is fair. Should the decision to incarcerate kids in the adult system at an annual cost of millions of dollars be left in the hands of one politically elected official?

Colorado taxpayers overwhelmingly say “No” and Johnson agrees. “Our system is supposed to be based on the rule of law. The bottom line is that we need an impartial person charged with protecting the public and the rehabilitation of juveniles to make decisions that will affect kids for the rest of their lives.”

Whether or not legislation will be introduced in 2010, Johnson and other advocates say opposition to direct file will not go away. “The people are behind ending direct file. In 2008, the legislature passed a mild bill softening direct file provisions. Governor Ritter vetoed it. Perhaps it’s time to ask the people to decide.”

This article asks a very serious question and presents three sobering examples of what can happen when the legal system is mislead, misused, and otherwise used as a tool of revenge and not as a blind guarantor of justice.  Are we foolish enough to believe that situations like the ones talked about in this article are too rare to worry about?  Are we foolish enough to believe that DA’s and other prosecutors are always the objective and level headed guardians of the law they are meant to be?

The legal system in America, while it may be miles above the legal system of other, less developed, nations, is still far from perfect.  We still condemn innocent people because of poor detective work, because of fear and prejudice, and most sadly of all, because of ignorance.

It is a sad enough reality that adults in this world are forced to contend with legal systems which, more often than not, are not concerned about justice as much as revenge; the fact that children have to deal with such  systems is unconscionable.  When a child is lost to the faceless, heartless, soulless, Gomorrah of our prison system we as a society have failed that child.  Many children grow up in fear, abuse, poverty, and ignorance.  If their situations drive them to break a law of society should society respond by locking them away, throwing away the key, and simply writing them off as a life wasted before it even began?  Or should society try and solve the real, tough, issues that led to that child’s behavior?