ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Luis Padilla remembers the terror he felt as a 16-year-old arrested on a robbery charge and locked up with adults in New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail. At one point, he pretended to be suicidal so he could be placed in the relative safety of a locked observation cell.
“Even now if I see a Rikers bus, I start to get jumpy and scared,” said Padilla, now 23, who was released after two months and now works nights at a warehouse in Harlem.
New York and North Carolina are the last two states that still prosecute all 16- and 17-year-olds as adults in criminal court and house many in adult facilities. But changes may be coming.
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All the time if they have a lengthy juvenile record. Some people will never change and in the best interest and the safety of the public juvenile or not they should be locked up in a cage where they belong.
ReplyDeleteWell based on this story he learned his lesson you wanna do crimes and get slaps on wrist until 18 maybe thats what they should do here so that way all these young thugs can see what there heading to a real jail where yea theyll see a thing or two not a summercamp for 2 months
DeleteMaryland charged my 16 year old and had her in WCDC. Thanks Maryland.
ReplyDeleteAny time they commit an adult crime.
ReplyDeleteThanks 5:44 for not raising her properly.
ReplyDeleteThen, on the same hand, the Federal Government says your are not an adult until age 21 to buy a damn beer.
ReplyDeleteI spent a year and a half of my time in the service being issued an M-16 to shoot people, but they wouldn't allow me to put a beer in my hand.
In my opinion, no 16 year old should be placed in Rikers. Keep them in a juvenile facility until 18. The only charges I would charge as an adult are murder, rape, and child molestation.
ReplyDeleteAs if reaching the age of 18 affords some magical gate to full adulthood and a sense of responsibility.
ReplyDeleteWhenever the crime is Serious enough ....murder,rape, etc
ReplyDeleteRegardless of AGE !!!
Murder, rape, Manslaughter, robbery, sodomy, larceny, arson, buglary, mayhem... Acronym Mr + Mrs lamb....off to prison..regardless of age
DeleteNo more getting Off stating Mental either !!!
ReplyDeleteAlways. They might want to have seperate jails for people under 18. there is right and there is wrong. If you cant tell the difference then you belong in jail.
ReplyDeleteGO back to like it was when this country was built, "Old enough to do the crime, old enough to do the time".
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ReplyDelete6:12 had it right.
The nature of the offense should dictate how they are charged.
If they want to house younger perps with the younger perps until trial, that's fine. If they want to house younger convicted perps in a youth section of a prison until they turn 21 that's fine.
Main thing is to try and convict and incarcerate. Get them off the street. Try to rehabilitate. Rinse; repeat.
Standard across the board 18. No if's, and's or but's. Hard line 18. Move along, nothing else to see here. Do the crime, pay with time!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do with a mentally ill 17 yr old that steals for the mother because the mother knows that nothing will come of it if the child is caught? Things are not always what they appear.
ReplyDelete@ 13!
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