Superior Court Judge John Phillips remembers the day 23 years ago like it was yesterday.

A kid stood in his courtroom who’d committed a murder, a young man who was still angry and unrepentant. Then the boy’s grandmother entered.

“He broke down and started crying,” said Phillips. “He was just a kid. And I’m thinking, ‘I’m sending kids to prison for life.’”

Phillips, now 81, had seen it all in 13 years as a district attorney and then 21 as a judge. Shootings, thefts, assault. He handed out difficult sentences, but he was troubled by the stories of many children who went through his courtroom.

“It’s very easy to pull a trigger if you don’t have any future, you don’t have any goals and you don’t have anything to look forward to,” he said.

  • @interceder270
    link
    -1511 months ago

    They might want to look at Sweden before they start going easy on murderers because of their age.

    • Echo Dot
      link
      fedilink
      1111 months ago

      Yeah, bloody Sweden. They er, exist?

      Mate, you’re going to have to explain that comment no one has any idea what you’re on about.

      • @interceder270
        link
        -111 months ago

        Sweden goes easy on murderers because of their age.

    • @viralJ
      link
      611 months ago

      Why? What happens to young murderers in Sweden and what impact does it have on Sweden?

      • AItoothbrush
        link
        fedilink
        English
        211 months ago

        Gangs give children with no past or future guns so they kill people. Kids only get a few yearsbin juvy for murder so they go back to the gang and kill another person. Rince and repeat. Putting kids in jail wont solve anything because theres an endless suply of kids without a life or those who grew up in bad conditions. Instead we should give reason for kids to live and should crack down on gangs.

        • @Mirshe
          link
          111 months ago

          deleted by creator

    • AItoothbrush
      link
      fedilink
      English
      511 months ago

      Yeah its the evil kids not the poor gangs that want to kill people. Also i think the kids are the ones that import guns illegally and not the multinational gangs in europe.

      • @interceder270
        link
        -5
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        When did we start believing kids don’t know it’s wrong to murder?

        Don’t any of you remember being a child? How many of your peers legitimately thought killing people was an acceptable thing to do?

        • Echo Dot
          link
          fedilink
          6
          edit-2
          11 months ago

          Nice straw man argument, whether or not they know it’s bad is irrelevant. The question is, is it worth destroying their entire future just because they were in a bad situation and often were manipulated by adults?

          • @interceder270
            link
            -611 months ago

            whether or not they know it’s bad is irrelevant.

            Says who? Lol.

            is it worth destroying their entire future just because they were in a bad situation and often were manipulated by adults?

            Sorry, I’m going to ignore your derailing question because you failed to answer my relevant ones.

            Think about all the futures that get destroyed when they murder someone.

            • @jomoo99
              cake
              link
              511 months ago

              Locking the kid up won’t bring the victim back nor will it prevent future violence

              • Echo Dot
                link
                fedilink
                311 months ago

                Particularly because the violence is ultimately perpetrated by the adults who are using the kids.

            • Echo Dot
              link
              fedilink
              211 months ago

              Now you’re talking about vengeance which isn’t the same as justice.

              Please decide what you want to debate and then debate that topic rather than jumping around randomly picking topics. You’re the one derailing any conversation.

              Also I didn’t fail to answer your question because you didn’t ask a question