Sunday, February 06, 2005
In Defense of Christopher Pittman
Christopher Pittman is on trial for killing his grandparents with a shotgun when he was 12. He is being tried as an adult.
In defense of Christopher Pittman, he should not be tried as an adult.
He is 15 now, but he was only 12 at the time of the killings. His age at the time of the crime should determine whether or not he is tried as an adult.
Someone that young should not be tried as an adult because they are not even close to having the understanding and experience of a 18 year old.
A 16 or 17 year old might sometimes be tried as an adult, if they are mature for their age. Some 16 or 17 year olds function as adults in society. Some become emancipated minors. They are treated as adults under the law. Some 16 or 17 year olds marry, with their parents permission. The minimum age to enter the military is 17. But a 12 year old is never treated as an adult by society. No one considers a 12 year old as old enough to marry, or to live on their own, or to work at a full-time job. Kids of that age are even too young to have a part-time job. No one considers a 12 year old as old enough to buy and drink alcohol, or to drive a car, or to fight in a war. Society sometimes treats older teenagers as adults, but never someone as young as 12.
To be tried as an adult, a 12 year old would have to have had the level of understanding of wrong and right of an adult age. But this boy's ability to understand wrong and right was compromised by his young age, and by psychological problems, and by physical beatings from his grandfather, and by a strong antidepressant called Zoloft.
He ran away from home, was found and placed in a child psychiatric institution for evaluation. He may have suffered some type of mistreatment, neglect or abuse in his home. He was so severely depressed that the doctors put him on Zoloft, an antidepressant known to increase the risk of suicide in children, an antidepressant that came close to being banned by the FDA. The doctors doubled his dosage in the days just before the killings.
In defense of Christopher Pittman, his ability to understand wrong and right was severely compromised by his young age, by physical beatings, by problems at home, by severe depression, and by a strong antidepressant called Zoloft.
He should not have been tried as an adult.
In defense of Christopher Pittman, he should not be tried as an adult.
He is 15 now, but he was only 12 at the time of the killings. His age at the time of the crime should determine whether or not he is tried as an adult.
Someone that young should not be tried as an adult because they are not even close to having the understanding and experience of a 18 year old.
A 16 or 17 year old might sometimes be tried as an adult, if they are mature for their age. Some 16 or 17 year olds function as adults in society. Some become emancipated minors. They are treated as adults under the law. Some 16 or 17 year olds marry, with their parents permission. The minimum age to enter the military is 17. But a 12 year old is never treated as an adult by society. No one considers a 12 year old as old enough to marry, or to live on their own, or to work at a full-time job. Kids of that age are even too young to have a part-time job. No one considers a 12 year old as old enough to buy and drink alcohol, or to drive a car, or to fight in a war. Society sometimes treats older teenagers as adults, but never someone as young as 12.
To be tried as an adult, a 12 year old would have to have had the level of understanding of wrong and right of an adult age. But this boy's ability to understand wrong and right was compromised by his young age, and by psychological problems, and by physical beatings from his grandfather, and by a strong antidepressant called Zoloft.
He ran away from home, was found and placed in a child psychiatric institution for evaluation. He may have suffered some type of mistreatment, neglect or abuse in his home. He was so severely depressed that the doctors put him on Zoloft, an antidepressant known to increase the risk of suicide in children, an antidepressant that came close to being banned by the FDA. The doctors doubled his dosage in the days just before the killings.
In defense of Christopher Pittman, his ability to understand wrong and right was severely compromised by his young age, by physical beatings, by problems at home, by severe depression, and by a strong antidepressant called Zoloft.
He should not have been tried as an adult.
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You couldn't be more correct. http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/cjmimmculcom.html
http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/Adolescence.pdf
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http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/Adolescence.pdf
# posted by 
: 12:48 PM
: 12:48 PM << Home
