Ok. here goes.
There's a kid in Ok. that is in jail for stabbing another kid on the bus in January, I think. He's 16, now; the D.A. is pushing for him to be under psychiatric care (and basically to be in jail) until he's 25.
25, folks.
That's 9 years of immersion in the prison culture, and in the psychiatric ward.
And then they will just turn him out into the world and expect him to function.
Hello? Is anyone thinking about this?
How is he supposed to be a functioning member of society after that? He *might* come out of this with a G.E.D. He *won't* have any work history, and he will have the jail time and the psychiatric care hanging over him; how is he supposed to get a job that will do him any good at all? How is he supposed to rejoin society -- or, in reality, join society to begin with, since he has been in the custody of the legal system since this happened? He should still be in school, just now getting into the swing of high school.
Now, I don't know why he stabbed the other boy. I haven't heard yet. And I'm not saying that he should not be punished for what he did. I'm just saying that this should be given more consideration. Because I guarantee that if the D.A. gets what he wants, then when this kid gets out it will take less than a year for him to be back in.
