No tears shed here

"Suicide Threat Postpones Hearing" is a headline at ABCNews.com:

A hearing that could have meant a return behind bars for Lionel Tate, once the youngest person in modern U.S. history sentenced to life in prison, was postponed Monday because he sent a letter to a judge threatening to kill himself.

Tate, convicted at age 13 of killing a 6-year-old girl, was examined during the weekend by a psychologist whose findings will be presented at a competency hearing on Dec. 19. Broward County Circuit Judge Joel T. Lazarus, who said he received the letter Friday, decided to wait for that finding before deciding whether to revoke Tate's probation.

Tate, now 18, faces a possible return to prison for life if Lazarus finds he violated his probation. He was arrested in May on charges that he robbed a pizza delivery man at gunpoint.

Emphasis. Mine.

Does anyone out there, um, really care if Tate follows through with his threat?

To many juvenile justice experts, Tate is a symbol of the difficulty that the justice system has dealing with children who commit serious crimes.

Florida and dozens of other states have laws permitting them to try children accused of serious crimes as adults, punishing them rather than seeking to rehabilitate them.

Careful of them "experts," y'all. And if someone murders somebody else, I don't want them "rehabilitated." They've forfeited their right to any sort of freedom. They should be punished. If serving time is seen as too "harsh" for criminals under 18 years of age, try asking their victims if it was "harsh" what was done to them. Oh, that's right -- you can't. They're dead.

'Nuff said.

Posted by Felix at December 5, 2005 04:30 PM | TrackBack