involving addictive substances.

If the youth faces insubstantial secular punishment (say 5 years or less in incarceration) the message sent by society would be a greater injustice than trying him as an adult.

It’s a heinous crime that requires justifiable punishment. Society can’t afford to allow exceptions.

Anyone who advocates for anything but a severe consequence for the offender should be willing to share the results of what they facilitated. In other word they should be liable for behavioral injustices they facilitated.

All to often criminals are released early in the name of compassion or other supposed justifiable reasonings. Those who facilitated the early release pay no price when the criminal repeats their behavior, but victims all to often do.

That being said violent or heinous crimes committed during minor years should have available a different path for rehabilitation.

If you don’t have any experience working with minors who have committed these horrible crimes, know that the majority of them know exactly what they are doing.