Aug. 12 marked the day a murderer walked out of his Tennessee prison cell for the last time. Only seven years after killing five people in cold blood, Mitchell Johnson was allowed to walk free.
Of course, he was 13 at the time of the shootings, but Arkansas has since closed the loophole that allowed Johnson to serve only 1.4 years for each life he took on that fateful spring morning.
If the crime was committed today under the exact same circumstances, then the killer would likely face charges as an adult rather than as a juvenile. The hallmark of accountability apparently is a birth certificate identifying a person as aged 14 years or more. This fact should shock your senses. Isn’t it seemingly everyday since the day we are born that we hear about the ages of responsibility? No, you can’t drive until you are 16 years old. No, you can’t use tobacco before the age of 18. No, you can’t drink alcohol until you’re 21. No, you must be 25 to rent a car. The list goes on, with one notable exception: if you commit a crime after the age of 7, then you can be tried as an adult in some states.
However, this miniature defendant’s peers would never be allowed to cast a vote for or against the people making these laws. Who decided that the violent children are more mature and responsible than the non-violent children?
It is not until a full 11 years after a child becomes legally responsible for their actions that he or she is allowed to help determine who will be making the laws that we all are responsible for abiding. This should change.
In the ’70s Americans reacted to the fact that a large portion of the United States’ forces in Vietnam were unable to vote. By changing the laws and extending suffrage to 18-year-olds the United States took a step in the right direction. It’s time for another. If children can be deemed mature and responsible at the age of seven by the judicial branch of our government, then they should be able to make a mature and responsible decision concerning the legislative and executive branches, too.
What are the politicians so scared of? If the younger generation is anything like its predecessors, then they have nothing to worry about. On Election Day, the newly enfranchised juveniles will likely be more concerned about the American Idol ballot than the American government ballot.