Charging Children for Adult Crimes: Jeff Weiss

The alleged actions of these teenagers are beyond criminal. It is a heinous crime, repulsive in its planning and vile in its execution. This wasn't a spur of the moment action – it was carefully plotted. Labeled a “snitch” because his family reported the attempted theft of his father's bike, Michael Brewer was bullied in school to the point where his mother allowed him to stay home from school on October 12th. It was then that police and prosecutors say the gang of five boys found Michael at a friend's apartment complex, threw rubbing alcohol on him, and lit him on fire. The boys range in age from 13-15, therefore they clearly knew how slim the chances of surviving being set on fire in such a way as Michael Brewer was ignited. If they indeed committed this act, they planned the death of a classmate; a boy with whom they had played together just days before.

It is horrifying to watch Michael's mother, Valerie Brewer, interviewed on television. It is just as horrifying to read statements from the parents of the alleged attackers, who knew the victim as a friend and schoolmate of their children. It is hard to imagine a child planning such an attack, but to think of five of them actually carrying it out, is almost incomprehensible. Debating what would make children commit violent crimes is another topic altogether. Today, we are trying to think of what to do with them once they have already committed crimes.

Ironically, I received a summons for jury last week. Today I thought of that as I began to write this commentary. Could I sit on a jury and recommend a fifteen year old boy to be punished as an adult? Could a boy who enters an adult correctional facility possible come out as a man who is ready to take his place in society? My gut instinct tells me no. I believe that people can be rehabilitated, and rehabilitation should start with children. Instead of allowing children to become statistics, I believe that the system should invest in getting to the center of the problems that cause children to commit crimes. Whether it is a poor home environment, involvement in drugs, or a mental disorder, every effort should be made to to correct and rehabilitate children who commit crimes - before they become adults who commit crimes and begin what could very possibly be a life-long cycle. In Florida, the average sentence for second-degree attempted murder is twenty two years. If Matthew Bent, Denver Jarvis, and Jesus Mendez are found guilty of setting Michael Brewer on fire, what would serve the community better: sending them to prison until they are almost forty years old; or sentencing them to a juvenile rehabilitation facility where they might very well come out ready to take their place in society?

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