main ineligible for the death penalty. Adult gang members who commit intentional murder in the furtherance of gang activity will be eligible for the death penalty. Gang members who commit home invasion robbery, car jacking, and drive-by shooting would net an automatic life sentence. Juveniles fourteen and older charged with personally committing murder involving special circumstances or one-strike rape will have to stand trial in adult court. Offense-based filing will be allowed with juveniles fourteen or older charged with the personal commission of serious or violent felonies involving hate crimes and crimes against the elderly or disables. The new law allowing teens to be tried as adults expands the category of felonies that funnel youth into adult courts and prisons, and it increases punishment, particularly for gang-related offenses. It also eliminates informal probation for juveniles committing felonies, among a host of other provisions in a forty-three page list of tougher penalties that proponents say 'cracks down on the worst of the worst among teen criminals.' It is unbelievable that our society will allow for such a law. It seems unfair that a fourteen year old child can make a mistake and pay for it the rest of his/her life. The reason our system has never tried youth as adults is because they are not mature enough to think like an adult and take responsibility for themselves. At such a young age there is still hope for an alteration in his/her lifestyle, locking the child up only diminishes the chance of change. Children act out for attention and in many cases do whatever it takes to get that attention; even if it means bringing a gun to school, or going into a store and stealing a pack of gum. Our society must realize there is a problem with today's youth and find where it stems from - only then is there any hope for change. Putting children into prisons is like pushing dirt under a rug; the dirt can only sit ...
