The only thing that's similar about these kids is that they're all 12. I really can't follow your thinking here.

This hardly makes any sense at all but I'm going to make a good faith effort to respond since maybe you're genuinely confused. The two cases are not at all alike and there's no analogy to make here. Tamir Rice wasn't committing any crime at all (his state is 'open carry' and his gun was a toy). And he wasn't put on…

Oh, got it! I think we agree on that, for the most part. Many juvenile systems are pretty thoughtful about mental health intervention and the better state systems have dedicated facilities for the highest-need kids. But in order to get there, they would stand trial in the juvenile court first (or reach a plea deal…

If I oversimplify it, not competent to stand trial means that you don't understand what's happening right now. Not guilty by reason of insanity means that you didn't understand what was happening when you committed the crime.

It's not about how 'adult' the crime is, it's about our fundamental belief that young people have the inherent potential for rehabilitation.

That's not why we have juvenile courts, though. We have them because we believe that adolescents can be rehabilitated. They're not fully formed yet. Every state in the nation has somewhere articulated that the purpose of its juvenile justice system is rehabilitative and explicitly not punitive.

Competent to stand trial doesn't mean that you can't be found not guilty by reason of insanity - that's what gets you sent to a mental health care facility. Which, for the most part, are far worse than any prison. But that's after a trial.

And it is possible that involvement with the courts will be the best chance of her getting the sort of long-term mental health care that she might need. It doesn't sound like her family was able to recognize the depth of her need or secure the resources to intervene. (I'm not a defender of the criminal justice…

It is very unlikely that these two would get anything looking remotely like "just probation." Even if they're ultimately tried as juveniles, they'll likely be in custody until they're 25. And within a system that is (marginally) more rehabilitative than an adult jail.

The mental illness thing is totally separate from the adult/juvenile thing. In some states, attempted murder is always an adult crime, no matter the age or other circumstances. In other places, those crimes are automatically placed in adult court unless and until a judge moves it down to the juvenile system. It's…

One can be mentally ill and still fit to stand trial. Being incompetent for trial is a very high bar - it basically means that you aren't capable of understanding the proceedings or participating in your own defense.

I was vaccinated as a child and got whooping cough a few years ago (I live in one of those areas of LA where people think their babies are too precious to inoculate). I've since gotten a booster but for a long time, doctors didn't diagnose me correctly and I hate to think of how many people I coughed on during that…

I'm the first one to say that I have had sexual experiences that were less than ideal. Things that I wouldn't do today. Things I regretted the next morning. I'm pretty sure that most of us have those stories. The difference for me is that I never felt afraid. Not only did I not say "no," I didn't want to. And…

I've got Blue Apron and it's great! It's only bad in that my mother is very disappointed in me. But you really do cook everything yourself (which I like, because then I learn how to make all these things). And you don't end up with a 90% full jar of capers cluttering up your fridge for the next 3 years. It's $10…

It's really great! Nothing is particularly complicated but it's great to have just enough roasted chestnuts on hand to make this one mean and not having buy (or frankly, own) a whole container of them.

But wouldn't the lawyer know which assistant typed the contract? It was unethical of this friend to share this information with you and s/he could lose her job for that alone - not to mention consequences of the NDA. Your sharing the story isn't the problem, it's that you're publicizing her breach. You might not…

There's a great piece here about exactly this!

The next part of his story was how the woman than nonchalantly retracted her accusation. Just because "date rape drugs don't work that way" doesn't mean a prosecutor isn't still obligated to fully pursue prosecution if there is sufficient evidence that any crime was committed (i.e., she was raped because she was too…

Tamir Rice? John Crawford III? The are - sadly - a lot of other examples.

To me, it's a visual reminder that any one of these famous faces or innocent protesters is just another black man to the police.