I am not suggesting that the crime of which the teens in the second story are accused is not brutal and horrifying. And I certainly am not suggesting that the coach\u2019s alleged behavior in the first story is defensible. I\u2019m simply pointing out that here we have two adjacent stories in the paper that offer precisely contradictory notions of the meaning of adulthood and childhood.<\/p>\n
There is no way to reconcile the views of these two stories. If one finds the coach\u2019s behavior unjustified, then one cannot approve of the prosecutor\u2019s behavior. Their logic is precisely the same.<\/p>\n
I have never understood the basis for the magical assertion that allows prosecutors routinely to pretend that some children are not children and therefore to \u201ctry them as adults.\u201d<\/p>\n
What would happen if one of these tough-talking statutory rapist prosecutors decided it was time to \u201cget tough\u201d on underage drinking. It\u2019s no use threatening these teenage tipplers with juvenile detention, he would say, that\u2019s too \u201csoft.\u201d We need to \u201cget serious\u201d and try them as adults. But of course trying them as adults, in that case, would mean they were no longer guilty of underage drinking.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What would happen if one of these tough-talking statutory rapist prosecutors decided it was time to “get tough” on underage drinking. It’s no use threatening these teenage tipplers with juvenile detention, he would say, that’s too “soft.” We need to “get serious” and try them as adults. But of course trying them as adults, in that case, would mean they were no longer guilty of underage drinking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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