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Originally Posted by Catwoman
So OC, when do you think the cut-off point should be?
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I don't know the answer to that is an arbitrary age limit.
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I'm sure you'll agree that a 5 year old should not be sentenced to death for a murder?
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Of course not. But in someone not mentally handicapped, 16 is way different than 5.
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This is an impossibly vague debate since no two crimes are the same etc etc but at what point does an individual become responsible for their actions? 10? 12? 18? I know some 30 year olds who don't understand that washing makes dishes clean.
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I think that is exactly why the law should be left as it is (15) and let the adjucating courts decide. That's what they are there for. I do think the line has to be drawn somewhere, but it's not always an easy line to draw. In the case mentioned in the article, the juvenile knew he would not get the death penalty because of his age. In this case, maybe a 15 year old line may have deterred him. No one knows. It's not an issue we can say definitively one way or the other in every case.