Wednesday, April 16, 2008
In which I sigh heavily
So I read yesterday on Joe.My.God. that 27 LGBT groups have urged the California courts to try Lawrence King's murderer as a juvenile. Joe expressed being conflicted about it and asked his audience to weigh in. I couldn't believe there were actually people crying "Fry him!" in the comments. Not just one or two, but beaucoup. Maybe I'm totally disconnected from my people, but the kid (pretty much the opposite of an adult) is barely 14. Everyone is so focussed on punishment. He must be severly punished. He is to blame, he knew what right and wrong was, the act was premeditated, etc etc. and I guess that means fry the bastard. I couldn't disagree more, but my voice seems to be in the minority. Here's what I want to know. Here is a society built on, among other things, guns and masculinity. Violence is being virtually carried out by our toddlers on video games. Faggot is still the number one schoolyard epithet. And yet we're supposed to try this kid as an adult, endow him with being able to rise above the negative influences of society and family, make the right choice and do the right thing? That's quite a burden for a just turned 14 year old. (Laverne, did you know that you are teaching adults there in junior high?) I figure the guy could probably still learn all those things since he is clearly in a formative and malliable part of his life. And he's the one who's here alive on the planet. It seems like a waste of a life, as well as a useless exercise in hostile feelings, to send this kid to jail forever. And I'm saddened at the hard-heartedness of my brethren. The lust for revenge and dare I say it, bloodthirstiness, strike me as savage and backward. I thought we were more evolved than that.
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23 comments:
Many "civilized" countries have abolished the death penalty. Mexico refuses to extradite people to the US if they might be executed. Our punishment by death comes from the old eye for an eye laws. Ghandi said, "with eye for an eye the whole world ends up blind". Ed
America -- the greatest, most civilized country on earth.
Ahem.
I used to teach middle school, and I can tell you that their emotional maturity is on a roller coaster. Those are the cruelest years of childhood. Think about it: this boy thought that being called gay was so bad that it called for killing the boy who caused it. Does that sound like an adult? Do you think for a second he understood the consequences? He will live with this for the rest of his life. That is his sentence.
The criminal here is a society that makes it a crime to be gay. If it were not so, this boy could have accepted Lawrence's overtures and told him it wasn't going to happen. Had he done that, then he would have been thinking like an adult.
This is such an awful event. There is no happy ending. All we can do is try to build a culture in which being gay is simply one aspect of a complex creature that is so much more than just an orientation.
Our brother's blood cries to us from the ground. We do not make it right by spilling more.
I am very much opposed to the death penalty for adults, so just imagine how I fell about it for juveniles.
One of the many problems with the U.S. legal system is that it has become focused on vengeance rather than justice. To even suggest that our goals should be on reforming prisoners is now met with laughter.
I'm glad that various LGBT groups are urging he be tried as a juvenile. I think that some people don't realize that the desire to try a child as an adult and the desire to deny gays full inclusion in society are very similar impulses. Gay rights are human rights.
Wil
Did you really think the world was more evolved than that? I agree with you about this kid, revenge is unnecessary. There is no reason that two lives should be lost here when he could spend his life doing good work and speaking about what he did and why it's wrong, if he even thinks it was wrong. Too many people out there want and eye for an eye and they want it NOW!!! It's not just the dead boy whose family was destroyed, the kid who shot him has destroyed his family too. There is so much more to consider than revenge and yet it's the first place so many people want to go first! Sad really!
One life is gone, why ruin another? Killing IS wrong, but the death penalty isn't always the answer. God have mercy on us.
Torn,
Sometimes you just have to leave home in order to understand it completely.
Vive la differance!
Ps. What did Fox News have to say about it?
Trying a 14 year old as an adult is certainly excessive, but trying him through the juvenile court system, with the heaviest penalty being perhaps a 4 to 7 year sentence, is too lenient for such a horrible act. (No one's talking about the death penalty, so let's all calm down about that.)
14 or not, teenagers know that shooting someone in the head is horrifically wrong. That's why it's a newsworthy occurrence even in the US where acts of violence usually elicit a quick CNN sound bite and then a collective yawn. We need to find a middle ground that emphasizes rehabilitation and close monitoring well into adulthood. A child who is capable of murder grows up into an adult who is capable of murder... and frankly, another easily-provoked, gun-happy, violently murderous adult is the last thing the US needs. We have way more than enough of those already.
You are absolutely right! I couldn't agree with you more! This boy, who is NOT an adult, only carried through the hate-rhetoric that is so rampant and sanctioned by his own culture. This includes the government and many so-called Christians who have created an atmosphere that is so unaccepting of gay people, that retaliation is preferable to any kind of acceptance. The fact that a barely turned fourteen year old viewed being the object of another boy's crush as being so vile that he felt that in his immature mind, he was justified in such a horrible act of violence, speaks volumes.
Focus on the family reacted in a frenzy to Diversity Day in schools, urging parents to keep their kids at home that day lest they be contaminated by learning to accept and value their gay classmates. No more young Brandons being created there, right?
What this kid needs is rehabilitation, not being tried as an adult. He is not an adult and being tried as one, will not make him so. It made me very sad to read the litany of "Fry the little bastards" over on JMG. All those calling for his blood over there are perpetuating the very lack of humanity that creates this mindset in the first place.
Ending the life of someone who has barely seen it for himself, is probably not the answer, but should his crime enable him the freedom to live a full life as opposed to the victim? For those close to the heart of the matter & those most affected of course the answer is NO. Much hurt & anger holds sway in the matter.
I must say at 14 I clearly knew right from wrong & if I was the perpetrator in this situation I would expect a harsh penalty to come from such a grevious act.
It is a tough call my friend, but I cannot begin to imagine what both families are going through. All I know is that intimidation & bullying at school can have life scarring results for victims of such hate. But to have your life taken away because your different -is sickening
A few years in confinement may or may not make him a better person. Just what is exceptable justice in this instance?. Lets hope they find a suitable solution without the loss of more life.
What could I possibly add to all this comments wisdom...revenge is sweet, but ugly, and not the answer in this case.
But neither is yawning and looking away. All we can hope is that there are people in Brandon's life who can support him when he realizes (if he hasn't already) the dreadful thing his done, and help him make something positive of this mess.
The thing that makes me want to lay down in the trail and not get up again is that either way nothing will change. It would have already if it was going to. How many actual adults hear their kids call someone gay and think Nothing of it? Gay men bear an unbelievable amount of societal shame and trying the 14 YO who acted that out as an adult is a great way shrug off the responsibility of that.
But more evolved? No. I don't even think that's possible for us. Look at Columbine which didn't even involve the taboo of gayness. Did we realize that it's important to protect kids from being taunted or did we blame the kids who had been marginalized for years and years? I have talked to many parents who know their kid gets scapegoated at school who let it happen because it's part of life and their kid needs to learn to "toughen up".
Hey 14 year old being driven by group psychological factors that we as a society ignore the existence of, deal. Because it's either that or we adults have to own our shit. Evolved? What am I doing to change the problem? Nothing. Nothing, and *I* see it clearly and know it is causing suffering.
Anyone who's ever lived with a 14 year old kid knows that they think only in the NOW, never in the future. What makes me sad about this is the gun laws (?) in the States are such that a 14 year old kid even has access to a weapon. It's insanity to me why you'd even need a damn gun, yet Americans are running around shooting each other like it's no big whoop. Of course, kids are inundated with images of violence in their games, their tv shows, their music, and parents are too busy with their heads in their asses to bother teaching anything about tolerance and diversity and how to properly deal with your emotions.
Until gun laws are changed in the States, kids are still going to continue to have access to weapons and they are still going to kill each other because that's what they see. As adults, we need to be the change we want to see.
-Rox
Crimes of passon, whether in adults or children, are rooted deep in how a person is raised and how they view the world from their own perspective. This boy came from a violent home atmosphere and one learns those lessons of violence quite well.
Most people who commit a crime of passon, do not do it again. It was a single event for which they reacted violently. Would he do it again? Under the same conditions and without any type of therapy, the answer may very well be, yes.
No child should be tried as an adult, period. Each case is different and should be looked at differently. I have seen some children physically superior to many adults but one can not judge the child on their physical size. Their brain and how they relate is still under-developed and is not adult thinking. Children do not see the finality of any acts they commit whether they know right from wrong. They are hypersensitive on how people ( their peers ) see them. That is very important to a boy his age, as he thinks he is the sum of what his peers think of him. If he's been embarrassed,especially in fromt of them,he needs to correct the situation and reestablish his stasis in the pack.
Who's culpable? Yes, the boy is but, I also think his parents, being responsible for his education, and other things they are supposed to be teaching him, failed as well. They are just as culpable as he is. He is underage and supposed to be under their guidance. Why was a weapon so assessable to this teen? Who's culpable for not locking it up? It is neglegence at least on the parent's part. Did the parents teach him his homophobia passively or actively? Did they discuss any type of diversity training with him? Those are little events in his life, but put them together and it spells trouble or disaster. Are his teachers culpable? By inaction, they are teaching children that it is ok to go after minorities.
It's easy to point the finger of blame at many. It is unfortunate that this boy thought his only option was to kill the other boy. This boy needs plenty of therapy and doesn't need to be put in with hardened prisoners. It is unfortunate, that the education of a juvenile offender stops at age 21 where they are released and free as an adult, only because they have reached that age. For crimes such as murder, this boy needs to be sequestered away from his present situation, given plenty of therapy, anger management, diversity training, and love. He should serve some time doing something to atone for taking a life. I don't think it should be done in "the Big House." It is obvious, ( at least to me ) that he needs more love and trust in his life. I'm sure he now regrets his action in that moment of passion. Murdering the murderer is not the answer by a long shot.
While I agree that sentencing the boy to death serves little if any purpose, I do not agree with the common thinking that 'the boy is a victim of the violent images in his society and basically isn't responsible for his actions'. Every other 14 year old who gets mad knows better than to shoot someone in the head. If this boy is 'excused' because of his age and environment, it sends the wrong message out to everyone. I believe our Society needs to concentrate on rehabilitation of offenders, especially the young ones, rather than simply meeting out a death or prison sentence. But it will be a mistake not to hold offenders responsible for their actions, whatever their motivation or environment.
Mark :-)
Not much though on it one way or the other. But I do wonder if so much of the "savagery" and "bloodthirstiness" you witnessed is born of utter frustration among gay people in this country? We aren't considered real people, we don't get the same rights as others, we are constantly held up as objects of scorn, ridicule, contempt.... Is it really any wonder that gay people are ready to lash out at the society that has made their existence so miserable for so long? Pesonally, I would think it would be a perfect rallying call for a new revolution but we remain an apathetic lot when it comes to action. Sad. Just TWO more wasted lives.
Nope, we aren't more evolved than that. Sadly.
Another death won't serve any purpose, but a 14-year-old knows shooting someone is wrong. A mere juvenile offender proceeding doesn't cut it for something like this. This kid is dangerous. Perhaps he can be rehabilitated someday, but simply looking at him as a victim isn't enough. There's no love in my heart for homophobes, but very few of them are capable of such violence, regardless of their age.
For those who are going off on the US as if it's still the wild west, it's not. Yes, there are a lot of guns and gun owners in this country. Millions of them came home with our soldiers from the World Wars and still are in gun cases in many homes (many gun owners I know have dad's or granddad's rifle, etc.). For better or worse, that's part of this country. There are many good things that are different about the US, and there are things that are bad. The prevalence of guns would seem to be one of them. With that said, 99.999% of gun owners are peaceful.
Lastly, regarding those on JMG who were lusting for blood, that's the problem with hatred. It breeds more. I didn't read that post or the comments, but the reaction isn't surprising. If you tell any group that one of their own was murdered for identifying with the group, there will be exactly that kind of reaction from many: fear, anger and hostility. It's a natural human reaction. Whether it's right or wrong, good or bad, is a judgment call. Whatever it is, it's not surprising.
That shooting happened 30 miles away. All I could think about was what if I was that English teacher in the computer lab? What about the other students?
If my students throw a rock through my window, their parents are held financially responsible. If they play hooky, their parents are held responsible (and fined).
If they don't wear a helmet when they ride their bikes, their parents are held responsible.
Yes, they know right from wrong, but they are also children. We have laws in this country protecting children. They don't have the same rights as adults because they aren't the same as adults.
Making this murderer a victim of society is not what I hear most people suggesting; he is not an adult, and therefore should not be treated as such.
I refuse to jump on the BashAmerica bus, but it depresses me that I live in a place where the state can still take your life.
Joining you in the heavy sigh. So much passion and anger and so few answers.
The whole thing's got me ubgpckn...
Thank you for taking the stand.
He's a kid who was somehow trained to hate.
Another death would solve nothing.
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