Lionel Tate faces armed robbery charge

[TXlib]

Young killer faces armed robbery charge
Lionel Tate on probation in 1999 beating death of 6-year-old
Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Posted: 9:24 AM EDT (1324 GMT)


(CNN) -- Lionel Tate, whose first-degree murder conviction in 2001 made him the youngest person sentenced to life without parole in the United States, was arrested Monday night after a pizza deliveryman said the 18-year-old robbed him at gunpoint in Pembroke Park, Florida.

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Lionel Tate was freed in Jan 2004 after winning a new trial. He was caught outside his house (during a year-long house arrest sentence) with a knife in Sept 2004, and now this.

I think it's pretty clear this kid is a sociopath, and I don't think it's a good thing he was allowed to go free.

I still think it is wrong to sentence somebody so young to life without parole, but I don't think a tide of popular sentiment should free a sociopath, either.

I would hate for this example to condemn all others so young who run afoul of the law, but it is clear that freeing him was a mistake.

[Gyre]

1. If they're kids, you've got to give them enough rope

to hang themselves. Sometimes it costs another life. Judges and probation officers really need a clear indication there's no redemption before they'll send a little punk like this off for life.

Gyre

[TXlib]

2. NY state is charging a 9-year-old girl with murder as an adult

Child psychology is different from adult. I think it is important to try to separate true sociopaths from kids who did something extremely dumb.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/31/gi...d.ap/index.html

Read that. The state of New York is apparently charging a 9-year-old girl as an adult over the stabbing. How young before you assume they are too young to appreciate fully the consequences of their actions?

Now, if it can be determined that the children in question are full-blown violent criminal sociopaths who can kill with no remorse, then i have no problem locking them up for life. If you let them go, they'll do it again.

But, if it's a matter of somebody very young making a horrible and stupid decision, then I think the youth criminal system, which frees them at 18 may be more appropriate.

The question for me is whether that kid very likely poses an enduring risk to society if left free.

I don't believe it should HAVE to cost another life, if we can determine the kid, no matter how young, is truly a violent criminal sociopath!

[Beware the Beast Man]

3. Ah, yes, the "wrestling defense."

Which was another case of "Let's hitch this wagon to get the programming we hate eliminated from TV for good" garbage from Brent Bozell and DINO Lieberman.