I’m not a fan of the whole, “When a kid turns 21, their record is wiped free” legislation that my state (at least) has. Personally, I think that, if you did it, you should be charged for it. I think that kids should be tried as adults in all cases, regardless of the crime – the quicker the child learns that it’s not cool to do something that has them end up in front of a judge, the quicker they learn not to do it again. And if they do commit another foul act, they know what they’re in for, and the judge knows that they have a criminal record.
A friend of my dad was killed when I was fourteen. The kid who killed was a senior at my school. He wasn’t paying attention and blew a four-way with his car, not even bothering to look. My dad, my dad’s friend, and my neighbor were all riding their motorcycles. He didn’t have a chance. The kid was charged with a misdemeanor. Uh, excuse me?? He was eighteen – legally an adult. He was charged as a juvenile because he was “still in school”. BARELY. The accident happened on the Sunday of our local festival, which was in June. The seniors graduated, at the most, a week later.
He turned twenty-one last year. The fact that he killed a man has been taken off his record. The fact that, because of him, a man won’t walk his daughter down the aisle, or see his first-born grandchild, or watch either of his kids graduate from high school/college, has been taken off his record. The fact that he killed a father, a husband, a brother, an uncle, a son, a cousin, and a friend, has been taken off his record. He KILLED another man, and the court system is just letting him forget about it. He can go back to having a normal life, and doesn’t legally have to tell anyone that he’s a murderer. I think that is wrong. There’s a family I know who can’t have a normal life anymore because of him. There’s a family that, because of him, will never, ever be the same.
I don’t understand why he’s allowed to forget, when there are others who never will.
If you’re going to do something that breaks the law, or is potentially harmful to others, and you consciously make the choice to do it, you should be held accountable. If you were adult enough to do it, you’re adult enough to pay the price, and have it follow you around for the rest of your life. I think that, just because you “didn’t mean to do it”, doesn’t mean that you didn’t do it, that something bad didn’t happen, and now you don’t have to pay the consequences.
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I agree in this case his record shouldnt have been cleared but I can understand how if somebody had done something stupid as a kid and wanted it off of their record then it makes sense but to have killed and be wiped clean. That's just not right!!!
I am registered to defend, prosecute, judge, and be a juror in teen court and we only try misdemeanors to erase kids records clean. This is a record that should not be called a misdemeanor. I believe that crimes should be wiped clean if they are small crimes aka misdemeanors, but a crime like this does not deserve being called a misdemeanor. This crime ruins the meaning of a misdeamenor. I am sorry about what happened to your dad's friend. This killed someone and that is a felony. I do not think his record is wiped cleaned if they found him at fault for the killing the guy.
He entered a plea of guilty, and was charged with a misdemeanor because of his plea bargain. "Involuntary manslaughter", I believe. He made my dad's friend basically sound like he deserved to die for even being ON a motorcycle, and he got away with it.
And he has no record anymore.
Which is sick.