Child Services: Going too far?

[kandrathe]

I think we are back to that idea of the Judgicial system being unable to excercise justice due to special causes (for all the right intentions) to be codified into law. I recall an interesting case I saw on Court TV while I was sick in bed one day. The prosecutor was trying to convict a 20 year old of statutory rape of a 17 year old. This young woman already had two kids from a different guy. The judges ruling was that she matured early. That line is fuzzy, yet it is a very common practice (IMO, for political reasons) to try juveniles as adults when it comes to serious crimes. So, I would say that as far as the justice system is concerned in at least one respect being under a particular age does not preclude them from classifying a juvenile as an adult. I think you are right though, that it is in the blurring of that line that the miscarriages of justice will and do occur. I think it particularly troublesome when considering 15 and 16 year olds, as it is less clear that their "Adult" identity is yet fully formed.