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.
