...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Monday, January 26, 2004
      ( 3:30 PM )
 
Mama Rejoices

[note: I thought I posted this late yesterday, but evidently it didn't publish]

No child should EVER be tried as an adult. I don't care what the circumstances are. Even if they are a teenager. Via Atrios and and Talk Left, we get the good news today about Lionel Tate, the boy who was sentenced to life in prison for killing his playmate when he was 12.

Tate, who was 12 years old at the time of the
killing in 1999, is believed to be the youngest
person in the United States sentenced to life
without parole.

Of course, it was in Florida. States that want to play like they are tough on crime and try children as adults and even allow them to be executed, but DON'T prosecute corporate thiefs who steal people's livelihoods, don't protect the most vulnerable of society, and don't even keep track of children in foster care are downright criminal in my book.

I'm so happy for Lionel and for his mother that he was allowed this second chance, that he will be able to live his life and try to grow into the man both of them always dreamed he'd be. I don't know how prison life has injured him, and I know he must live daily with the guilt and shame of what happened, but it is only right that a child be seen differently than adults. It's a good day when a child is given a chance despite the best efforts of those who cannot see the shades of gray that make up most of human existence. Mamahood softens those grays even more, and I rejoice in solidarity with Lionel's mama today.

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