Superior Court Judge John Phillips remembers the day 23 years ago like it was yesterday.

A kid stood in his courtroom who’d committed a murder, a young man who was still angry and unrepentant. Then the boy’s grandmother entered.

“He broke down and started crying,” said Phillips. “He was just a kid. And I’m thinking, ‘I’m sending kids to prison for life.’”

Phillips, now 81, had seen it all in 13 years as a district attorney and then 21 as a judge. Shootings, thefts, assault. He handed out difficult sentences, but he was troubled by the stories of many children who went through his courtroom.

“It’s very easy to pull a trigger if you don’t have any future, you don’t have any goals and you don’t have anything to look forward to,” he said.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, bloody Sweden. They er, exist?

      Mate, you’re going to have to explain that comment no one has any idea what you’re on about.

    • AItoothbrush@lemmy.zip
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      1 year ago

      Yeah its the evil kids not the poor gangs that want to kill people. Also i think the kids are the ones that import guns illegally and not the multinational gangs in europe.

      • interceder270@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        When did we start believing kids don’t know it’s wrong to murder?

        Don’t any of you remember being a child? How many of your peers legitimately thought killing people was an acceptable thing to do?

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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          1 year ago

          Nice straw man argument, whether or not they know it’s bad is irrelevant. The question is, is it worth destroying their entire future just because they were in a bad situation and often were manipulated by adults?

          • interceder270@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            whether or not they know it’s bad is irrelevant.

            Says who? Lol.

            is it worth destroying their entire future just because they were in a bad situation and often were manipulated by adults?

            Sorry, I’m going to ignore your derailing question because you failed to answer my relevant ones.

            Think about all the futures that get destroyed when they murder someone.

              • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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                1 year ago

                Particularly because the violence is ultimately perpetrated by the adults who are using the kids.

            • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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              1 year ago

              Now you’re talking about vengeance which isn’t the same as justice.

              Please decide what you want to debate and then debate that topic rather than jumping around randomly picking topics. You’re the one derailing any conversation.

              Also I didn’t fail to answer your question because you didn’t ask a question

    • viralJ@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Why? What happens to young murderers in Sweden and what impact does it have on Sweden?

      • AItoothbrush@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        Gangs give children with no past or future guns so they kill people. Kids only get a few yearsbin juvy for murder so they go back to the gang and kill another person. Rince and repeat. Putting kids in jail wont solve anything because theres an endless suply of kids without a life or those who grew up in bad conditions. Instead we should give reason for kids to live and should crack down on gangs.