“In America IF YOU ARE AN ADULT (male) you can protect yourself with ANY FORCE nessacerery.

If your a child and abused for years on end and finally snap- YOU GO TO JAIL and get shit statements like this—should children be tried as adults?

ONLY when ADULTS are tried for abuse and are STOPPED from abusing then this wont happen!

 

Should an abused child ever be charged as an adult for protecting self? FUCK NO!!!!”

treat the source not the symptom

and the kid below him- wonder where the hell he learned to do that??? ahhh geeee wonder wtf he learned that???  who DID that to HIM? ‘learn what is done to

them!!

be outraged!!!

http://www.idahostatesman.com/crime/story/836525.html

Should Idaho stop allowing minors to be tried as adults?

Two Canyon County cases raise questions about the prosecution of children

BY KRISTIN RODINE – krodine@idahostatesman.com

Published: 07/17/09

 

Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman

Cindy Neagle, mother of 14-year-old Zachary Neagle who is being tried as an adult in the shooting death of his father, holds a vigil candle with her other two children Korsha, 9, and Dawson, 6.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

• Local residents gather to support Caldwell teen murder suspect, protest adult charges

ELSEWHERE

• Read about crime in the Treasure Valley
• Read about how other states try juveniles as adults and use blended sentencing
• Read Idaho law on juvenile sentencing

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

WHAT’S NEXT

Trevor Reizenstein, now 15, is scheduled for a jury trial starting Aug. 24 on charges of attempted first-degree murder, battery with intent to commit a serious felony, and sexual penetration with a foreign object. He is charged in connection with an attack on a 5-year-old girl Jan. 24, 2007.

Zachary Neagle’s first-degree murder trial is set for Nov. 3. The 14-year-old is accused of shooting his father, Jason Neagle, in the head with a high-powered rifle while the man slept on his couch May 16.

Both have pleaded not guilty to the adult charges against them. Both will be tried in the Canyon County Courthouse.

Images of a sad-eyed 14-year-old, sitting alone and shackled in a Caldwell courtroom, made activists of Treasure Valley mothers Shaunna Tucker and Teresa Bennett.

Both are committed to the cause of Zachary Neagle, a boy they’ve never met who faces an adult trial – and a possible lifetime in prison – on a charge of murdering his father. Their advocacy is evidenced by their e-mail addresses.

Bennett’s begins "tlc4z." Her main aims are to show support for Neagle and to organize rallies protesting what she believes to be unfair prosecution.

Tucker’s address spells out the other side of their mission: "changeidaholaw."

No formal effort to change Idaho law has begun, and local lawmakers say they haven’t been contacted yet. But Tucker and others are setting their sights on a legal system that requires adult prosecution of youths age 14 and up who are accused of certain serious crimes including murder, rape and first-degree arson. Children younger than 14 also can be tried as adults if a judge approves.

National advocacy groups have embraced the case, and a local criminal justice professor says the issue is ripe for review.

IT’S NOT JUST NEAGLE

Canyon County has a second high-profile juvenile-as-adult case coming to a head this summer. Trevor Reizenstein, now 15, has been in custody since age 12, when he was arrested in a Nampa alley, suspected of severely injuring and sexually molesting a 5-year-old girl.

After a series of battles over whether adultprosecution is appropriate – the Idaho Supreme Court said yes in April – Reizenstein is set to stand trial next month for crimes reported more than 2Ý years ago.

"There’s never a speedy trial," said Cari Barichello, one of the leaders of the national advocacy group Justice for Juveniles. "These kids grow up in jail."

Barichello’s organization contends suspects under age 18 should never be tried as adults.

Since 1968, there have been 76 Idaho inmates who were younger than 18 when they were sent to Idaho prisons, according to Department of Correction records. Currently, there are no prisoners under age 18, officials said, and the department does not keep track of how many adult inmates have been there since they were juveniles.

However, nine Idaho juveniles who were prosecuted as adults are now doing time in a juvenile correction center through a "blended sentence," said Larry Callicutt, director of the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections.

"They do well in our environment," he said, noting that the young offenders know that if they don’t obey the rules and respond to treatment, they could be booted into the adult system.

Neagle would not be eligible for a blended sentence if he is convicted as charged, because "a murder one conviction is just not blendable," Callicutt said.

But in all crimes except murder and treason, Idaho judges have the discretion to suspend a juvenile’s adult sentence or withhold judgment, then send the teen to a juvenile corrections center.

"We have very, very good options on the books" for dealing with juvenile offenders in the Gem State, said Idaho Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke, who spent a decade as director of juvenile corrections before taking his current post in January 2007.

"We try to manage kids and remember they’re still kids," Reinke said. "But you never want to forget the victims, and you never want to forget the safety of the community."

Before they are convicted, juveniles who are charged as adults must be kept separate from all adult inmates in the county jail. Or, they can be held in juvenile detention while they await trial. That’s where both Neagle and Reizenstein are.

But once a juvenile is sent to adult prison, specific measures depend on the individual’s maturity, mental health, stature and other considerations, Reinke said. In some cases juveniles might be put in protective custody or have other special safeguards to keep them safe when they enter adult prison, he said.

IS ADULT PROSECUTION OF TEENS EFFECTIVE?

Treating selected juvenile offenders like adults is a common practice across the United States that took root in the 1980s and ’90s. Then, violent youth crime gave rise to a fear of "superpredators" and beliefs that juvenile courts were too lenient, said Boise State University criminal justice professor Michael Blankenship.

"The rhetoric sounds good," he said. "But the policy just hasn’t worked out."

He pointed to a U.S. Department of Justice report that found juveniles who are punished as adults are at least as likely to reoffend as their peers in juvenile custody.

According to that 1996 report, "other studies have also found that youth incarcerated in adult institutions are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted, twice as likely to be beaten by staff and 50 percent more likely to be attacked with a weapon than their counterparts in a juvenile facility."

A 2007 Centers for Disease Control report examined six studies about juvenile offenders and concluded that minors who are transferred into the adult justice system are, on average, 34 percent more likely to commit violent crimes than youths in the juvenile system.

Recently, Blankenship said, "some states have begun to back off that policy" and reduce the reliance on adult prosecution of juveniles.

Tucker likes the sound of a 2007 Colorado reform that established a juvenile clemency board to re-examine the cases of youths sentenced as adults in that state’s prison system. The panel can make recommendations for pardons or commuting sentences of juveniles.

THE FACE THAT LAUNCHED THE PROTESTS

Reizenstein and other Treasure Valley juveniles have made the news through adult charges in the past, but it was Neagle’s arrest in May that mobilized local residents.

"His face has captured attention," said Kelly Christensen, Bennett’s husband.

Media photos of the baby-faced eighth-grader with a slight build in chains and too-big prison garb roused protective instincts in some area residents. And public sympathy and outrage were fueled by early court testimony that a close relative suspected sexual and physical abuse.

"I’ve always been a conservative, a capital-punishment kind of person," said Tucker, a Boise rental-property manager who’s never been involved in politics or social activism before. "But this case made me think. It’s inhumane to treat juveniles as adults."

Young teenagers don’t have the maturity and mental development to be held accountable in the same way adults are, she said.

"I look at my own kids and think what would happen if they didn’t have parents who are somewhat strict and look out for them," Tucker said.

Her two sons are 11 and 9, she said, and "I can tell you when they’re 14, they’re still not going to be thinking correctly."

Tucker has been working with national advocacy groups and others, gathering information about the issues and fortifying her belief that it is wrong to treat minors as adults in the courts, however horrendous their actions.

"Children are so redeemable with some counseling, some guidance, some education," she said.

The Neagle case excited so much local and national media attention that last week the judge imposed a gag order on the prosecuting and defense attorneys, saying he is concerned about the ability to find an untainted jury.

A small but dedicated group, led by Bennett, has picketed the courthouse during each of the teen’s past three hearings. And a larger group held a candlelight vigil Thursday night.

"Everyone is coming together," said Bennett, a shy Nampa homemaker and mother of four who has never been involved in community activism before but felt compelled to lead the charge in support of Neagle.

"We need to not have any more Zacharys and not have these ridiculous laws," she said.

SOME SEEK TO CHANGE IDAHO’S LAW

Tucker said she is still educating herself and formulating a strategy, but she plans to push for changes in Idaho’s laws regarding juvenile crime.

So does Christensen, a manufacturing-firm supervisor who got involved in the juvenile justice cause through Bennett.

"There are juveniles who commit heinous crimes, and they should be held accountable – but not in an adult facility until they’re adults," he said.

Two Canyon County lawmakers who serve on the Legislature’s judiciary committees say they are not inclined to believe the juvenile-prosecution laws need changing, but they are willing to examine the issue and consider potential legislation.

"It’s a tough one," said Rep. Steve Kren, R-Nampa. "I don’t know if it will serve Idaho well to change the laws, but we should definitely talk about it and consider it."

"I think you have to step back and look not so much at who committed the crime but what was the crime," he said.

Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, is a founding member of the state’s Custody Review Board for juvenile offenders, which serves a similar purpose to the adult parole board.

"I would put our juvenile programs in Idaho up against any in the United States," Lodge said.

She said she’s aware of the protests surrounding the Neagle case, but in general, "the call from the people now is not to be easier on someone who commits a crime. They want more accountability for committing a crime."

"Just because you’re a teenager doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be accountable," Lodge said.

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