How do you know we are not gods?  Perhaps the gods are within us all, in which case we are allowed to seek revenge by your logic

@rocketpig:

Yeah. I don't live in Turkmenistan.

That's what it says in your profile.

You honestly don't feel ANY sympathy for children who grow up in an abusive environment...

Yes I do.

...and commit crimes as adolescents?

No I don't. That's not an excuse.

You don't think moral compasses are instilled through parenting...

I can agree with this.

...and without it, children can do horrible things without fully understanding the repercussions of doing so?

And they still have to pay for it. No excuses.

I'm not taking away blame from them

Yes you are.

I'm willing to acknowledge that most people aren't born criminals

Most aren't. They choose to behave that way, which is much worse.

and the better society tries to understand and work with children who didn't get to grow up in whitebread suburbia with a stable home environment, the less we'll see repeat career criminals

Murder shouldn't be included in this.

If a child grows up in a violent home, chances are they'll be violent. Is that really all their fault, especially if they commit the crime before they're even a teenager?

Yeah, THEY choose to be violent, THEY choose to commit crimes. No excuses, no blaming society, the family, and other such nonsense.

I'm not absolving them of guilt

Yes you are.

merely acknowledging that not everyone grows up in the same environment with the same opportunities.

Again with the excuses.

That may not be the situation with these two boys but the option needs to be explored instead of dooming the two of them to a non-existence in the prison system. It's not only wrong but it creates an undue burden on our social system that could be alleviated by tackling the problem instead of the symptoms.

A non-existence is the punishment they deserve for the atrocity they commited. It's the right thing to do. Letting them walk free to abuse other people, wasting money on protecting them, relocating them, giving them identities, covering up their crimes, that is the real undue burden on our social system.

@ OP: It's best for us as individuals to group together and "fight" for a justice system that has a balanced punishment/deterrent and rehabilitation method (and if it's out of balance to press for reform) and to leave the punishment up to our government instead of exacting vengeance as an individual.

True, but the thing is that these changes can't be retroactive, so those punks will still get away.

Yes.

As much as I want to vote "no" with my trust in the judicial system of the United States, I just cannot escape the reality of all the emotions, hopes and dreams I will have for my unborn children. Likewise, working in Mental Health I know from my own 2 eyes that true rehabilitation where a person comes in afflicted with a malady of mental health issues rarely comes out of the process with the capability of being a productive, independent member of society.

There is a saying among old timers in the mental health system, "This is a job you try to work yourself out of, but you never will."

Meaning, we will see peaks and valleys with who we work with, yet they (the client) has a very low chance of becoming fully independent with no chance of receding back into the mental health system.

If a 10 year old or even 8 year old (I cut it off at age 6 because they are too damn young to understand the consequences of their actions) is adult enough to commit a serious crime, then they should be treated as an adult.

Rehabilitation is a failed theory buttressed by a bunch of idealistic, new age Baby Boomers running Criminology Departments in academia. I work in what they lecture about and may have interned in 20 to 40 years ago. I can count on one hand those who have been fully rehabilitated back into society. They are wrong and I am right.

Was your whole post meant to be sarcastic?

There are no Gods, only God

And even that's not true.

it depends on the situation, but i say yes. just don't hurt the innocent by standers manly me.

if there is a god then i agree, but on the off chance there isn't then all bow to king Marcus,GOD of death and light, and most importanly justice is your own hands.