> > Don't you think that the real problem is
> >elsewhere and trying to understand it may
> >prevent other crimes?
>
> I most DEFINITELY don't think the real problem is "elsewhere". One of the BIGGEST problems in this world today, and in the US in particular, is people NOT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS.

I've said my piece on capital punishment in the other thread, but I want to voice my support on this one. The problem is NOT elsewhere. Even if it could be shown that the parents were negligent about the proper moral upbringing of their children, nonetheless those kids are ONE HUNDRED PERCENT responsible for their actions and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Apparently in Britain that means, "spend a few years in TIME OUT and then spend tax dollars to ensure that they are shielded from the consequences of FIRST DEGREE MURDER so they may lead happy and productive lives in spite of the fact that they purposefully denied that same right to another in an unquestionably evil act of wanton cruelty."

If I had been the judge -- and assuming the evidence is as clear-cut as it seems -- then I'd have gone with the death penalty without hesitation. But come on -- whether you believe in capital punishment or not, anything less than a life sentence without parole is a NAUSEATING injustice, and frankly the whole thing makes me SICK to my stomach.

Is the problem elsewhere? I see two problems here, and one of them is most definitely not "elsewhere." It's with those kids, who knew darn well what they were doing and did it anyway. The other problem is with this wimpy no-responsibility pansy-butt brain-damaged druggie notion that people should somehow not be held responsible for their own deliberate actions, a notion so widespread that it is infecting even court rooms with this crippling disease of injustice and ignorance and weakening people's minds to a point so disgustingly feeble that they can no longer stomach even the mildest of duties because it is too emotionally inconvenient to do so.