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New York, 10:56 AM
Fri Nov 27
11 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/23/09
11/23/09
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11/23/09
"[If Bustamanate is convicted] of first-degree murder, it's still possible she will end up in the care of the state Division of Youth Services.
"That's because Missouri is one of 22 states to have what is called a 'dual jurisdiction' system. Under state law, if Bustamante was found guilty, a judge could consider keeping her under the care of the juvenile system — which is heavy on rehabilitation — until she is 21. At that point, another hearing would be held to determine if she was ready to be released, or sent to adult prison for the remainder of her sentence."
Basically, despite being charged as an adult, she could still only serve a minor's sentence.
People who are pro-rehabilitation can cite that "of the 46 juveniles who have completed the state's rehabilitation program as part of a dual jurisdiction sentence, only 10 have ended up going back to prison, said Heberle. That's nearly an 80 percent success rate, which is much higher than traditional corrections programs."
People on the opposing side can cite that of those 46 juveniles, only 5 have ever been girls, 1 of which has re-offended, and none were charged with first-degree murder, though the system has worked for boys of similar background.
Given her background, I think she's most likely to commit suicide before anyone has a chance to figure out what to do with her.
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
[www.trutv.com]
11/23/09
[www.cbc.ca]
This 15-year-old girl , charged with murdering a 78-year old man :
[network.nationalpost.com]
Or the Reena Virk swarming case:
[www.cbc.ca]
And that's just Canada, which had a total murder count of 594 in 2007.
It's not rare. It's just rare that there's one so well-documented.
11/23/09
11/23/09
@raincoaster: Actually, in the scheme of things, female juvenile murderer numbers are rather low when compared to male juvenile murderers. And I expect when the type of murder is taken into account (meaning premeditated, seemingly motive-less, and non-firearm-related), you could probably count the annual female offenders on two hands. The latest numbers I could find were from 2006: that year, about 7% of known juvenile murderers were female (88 out of 1253) ([ojjdp.ncjrs.org]).
Actually--I just found this website where you can search very specific crime-related terms. It appears that in 2006, 47 non-firearm-related murders were committed by females under the age of 17: [ojjdp.ncjrs.gov] That's compared to 305 committed by juvenile males. So about 13% of non-firearm-related (and, in my mind, far more personal and brutal) murders in 2006 were committed by juvenile females.
11/23/09
Females, by the way, are far more likely to be poisoners. So think of that the next time you ask some pissed-off woman to make you a sandwich.
11/23/09
Neither is the level of psycho this kid shows. A Google search for ya - Sarah Kolb was at this game years ago:
[www.google.com]
11/23/09
11/20/09
"Update: Following a two-day search, Elizabeth's body has been found. Police have a juvenile person of interest in custody have haven't released his name. All they'll say is that he knew Elizabeth, lived not far away, and was older than the girl. "
"His"/"he" .. so sexist and judgmental, the press! :p
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
"Now, with all these cameras focused on my face,
you'd think they could see it through my skin.
They're looking for evil, thinking they can trace it,
but evil don’t look like anything."
11/20/09
But has anyone ever seen the movie Heavenly Creatures or know the true story it's based on? In it, two young teenagers kill one of their mothers. Now, one of those girls is a successful and seemingly normal crime novelist. Another is a nun.
This story makes me sick, but it's impossible to know if this girl could be rehabilitated. She might be a psychopath for the rest of her life. Or she might change.
11/20/09
Sorry, but prison is not just for rehabilitation. It is also for punishment.
11/20/09
11/20/09
Second, children are regularly punished. It is part of child-rearing. Misbehavior is met with punishment; this is how social mores are developed.
Third, the punishment should fit the crime. While I don't believe that a 16 year-old should serve 15 years for selling crack cocaine (partially because I feel that drug sentences in general are overly harsh), for the crime of matricide - the killing of one's on mother - through bludgeoning someone to death with a rock, the person who commits such a heinous crime should be punished, even if she is 27 months younger than the age of majority.
The legal age of majority is an arbitrary number, evidenced by the fact that 16 is old enough to be entrusted to drive a 2,000 lb. vehicle, 18 is old enough to be conscripted into military service and used to be old enough to smoke and drink, yet, until a quarter century ago, suffrage belonged to those at least 21 years of age. Now, 18 is old enough to vote but you need to be 21 to drink or smoke.
Before you can make an assertion like yours, you must first answer "Who is a child? Are a children equal children? Should any child ever be punished?"
#tips
11/20/09
This also reminds me why I no longer want to write about this stuff after 5 years of doing it professionally. After a while, teen killers - hell, killers in general - all seem to fit the same templates. And yes, it's incredibly depressing.
It's a good thing they are trying her as an adult. The only good place for this kid, sadly, is probably jail. And unless the depression overtakes her and she succeeds at suicide, she'll continue to run game on the people around her in there, too.
11/20/09
11/20/09
You realize that the fictional character Patrick Bateman was a serial killer only in his own mind, don't you? He never actually comits any of the murders--they're just deranged fantasies.
Although his motives parallel those of this all-too-real teen killer: For Bateman, too, the fantasy of killing people was the only way he could summon any sort of passion, ie, "feel something." That's how I always interpreted the book, anyway.
11/20/09
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11/20/09
@KentuckyBabe: Ah, I glossed over that paragraph. That's the kind of corroborating evidence I was talking about.
I went to an Innocence Project function this weekend, and obviously I'm still in the mood.
11/20/09
My good southern mama will argue that a middle name is how you can separate the serial killers from the rest of us; she advised me to never go out with anyone whose middle name was Dean, Dale, or Wayne.
Dailene. Girl never had a chance.
11/20/09
11/20/09