INCORRIGIBLE SOCIOPATHS

Tomorrow the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue of whether or not a life prison sentence given to juveniles who did not kill anyone constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. There are 109 such inmates in the world and everyone of those lifers are in the United States. 77 of them were sentenced in Florida. The court will consider two Florida cases.

One of the cases involves an inmate who, when he was 13, burglarized an empty house, then returned later to beat and rape the homeowner, a 72-year-old woman. After serving a one-year sentence he was released on probation only to get busted for a home invasion robbery. A judge then revoked his probation and sentenced him to life in prison.

In the other case, a 16-year-old participated in the attempted robbery of a restaurant during which the manager was hit over the head with a steel pipe. He pled guilty and, because he had no prior criminal record, received three years probation. By the time he was 17, he was arrested for a home invasion robbery. For the new crime and for violating his probation, he was sentenced to life in prison.

The world is full of well meaning folks who are simply naïve. There are many do-gooders, bleeding hearts, social workers and psychologists who believe there is no such thing as a bad child. These fools should wake up and smell the roses.

But even law-and-order types are turned off by life sentences for juveniles who did not kill anyone. I have a good friend who fits that bill. His reaction to those life terms: “YEOW! I'm all for law and order, but this seems a little draconian...a lot actually.”

A lot has changed over the years since our juvenile laws were originally enacted. Children were deemed delinquents in need of supervision who were mischievous by shooting out windows or street lights with bb-guns, who were petty thieves and shoplifters, who hung around on the streets all hours of the night and who were truants or run-aways.

Many of today’s juveniles are vicious malicious gun-toting thugs who murder, rape, burglarize and commit armed robberies without regard to their victims. These juveniles are out-and-out dangerous criminals, not the delinquent youths our juvenile laws were designed for.

The Florida inmate who is appealing the life sentence he received when he was 13, had an extensive arrest record before he was ever sent to prison. Yes, even a 13-year-old may be a dangerous sociopath with an extensive arrest record. You may wonder about Florida having 77 life termers who were sentenced as juveniles. I say, good for Florida.

I sure hope that a majority of the Supreme Court justices will have the good sense to recognize that some of our "juveniles" are simply incorrigible sociopaths who, for the sake of the public's welfare, should never again see the light of day outside the prison walls.