Brevity on the Net

A Shift in Juvenile Sentencing and a Look at Juvenile Rights
Lawmakers Rethinking Hard Line on Sentencing of Young Offenders
Bolstered by ongoing and recent medical and scientific studies of early brain development, many in the criminal-justice system are taking the position that juveniles should not necessarily be doomed to long prison terms for crimes they committed when their brains were not yet fully wired.
A Killer at 14, He Remembers No life But Prison
28-year-old Jeremiah Bourgeois was just 14 when he fatally shot a mini-mart owner who had testified against his brother in a robbery trial in 1992. Although Bourgeois� offenses prior to the shooting were so minor he had never spent one night in juvenile detention, he was charged as an adult with aggravated murder.
Ruling Shifts Debate on Young Killers
The Supreme Court�s ruling on the execution of young killers raises more questions: If execution is improper, why is life without parole any more appropriate? If juvenile offenders are fundamentally different from adults, why shouldn�t they be offered rehabilitative treatment? Can adolescent killers be rehabilitated? And should that be the goal?
Judge Looks at the Release of Nathaniel Abraham
Nathaniel Abraham was 11 years old, stood 4 feet 9 inches tall, and weighed 65 pounds when he shot and killed Ronnie Green outside a convenience store in Pontiac, Michigan.. Judge Eugene Arthur Moore has watched him become a 19-year-old young man. He has overseen his years of rehab and training and hopes it is readying him for the adult world he�ll enter in less than two years. Moore says, �Most of us�make it because we had somebody � whether it�s a parent, if we�re lucky, or a teacher or a coach or a piano teacher � that we believe cared about us. If we think that people care about us, then we begin to care about ourselves.� Judge Moore is a past president of NCJFCJ.
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European Attitudes About Underage Drinking
Europeans generally have a much different attitude toward drinking than do Americans. The legal system in Europe is permissive when it comes to the age at which kids can drink, but it is very strict about the abuse of alcohol, especially when it comes to drunk driving.

•  England allows beer and wine to be served to 16- and 17-year-olds when ordered as part of a meal in a restaurant.
  
•  Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece and others allow drinking at 16.
  
• Switzerland�s minimum age is 14.
  
•  Poland and Portugal have no minimum drinking age. 
  
• Italian teenagers are very intolerant of their peers who become intoxicated. They think it�s stupid and unacceptable.
  

• The rate of victimization per 1,000 children in the national population has dropped from 13.4 children in 1990 to 12.4 children in 2003.
  
• More than 60% of child victims were neglected by their parents or other caregivers.
  
• Almost 20% were physically abused.
  
• 10% were sexually abused.
  
• Children ages 0-3 years had the highest rate of victimization at 16.4 per 1,000 children in the national population.
  
• Girls were slightly more likely to be victims than boys.
  

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