Florida, California and 39 other states have enacted laws to try children as adults for serious crimes. I am not disagreeing with making twisted children serve just time, however, life sentences for children are absurd.
Like many his age, Lionel Tate, 14, is a devoted fan of the World Wrestling Federation. In 1999, however, the 166-pound boy decided to live out his boyish fantasy of being a wrestler and imitated violent wrestling moves on a much weaker opponent: 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick.
The murder took five minutes. According to experts in the Florida case, the 48-pound girl suffered more than 30 injuries, including a skull fracture and internal bleeding.
It makes sense to realize that at some point, she cried out for him to stop. Regardless, many seem to feel better now that a judge recently sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
He has become what many in this country see as “one less to worry about.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, 15-year-old Andy Williams sits in juvenile hall. Maybe his mind is filled with questions as to why he shot up his high school in Santee, Calif., killing two fellow students and injuring 13. It also makes sense to assume his victims pleaded for his mercy as he continued to shoot randomly. If convicted of all charges, Williams may face 105 years in prison.
He has become what many in this country fear and want to worry about.
There is, however, something wrong with this entire scenario, that does not even touch the, “What is happening to America’s children?” national question.
While we do not mind locking up and forgetting just “one more” black person, we still have problems making it OK to claim that a white life is not worth a chance at rehabilitation.
While Williams’ case unravels, something should be noticed. If ever there were a case in which the media spoon-feeds Americans their emotions, this is it. In many articles involving the Santana High School shooting, Williams is portrayed as meek, fragile and one who is struggling with unfair isolation. Justifications are given as reasons behind the shooting — his girlfriend had broken up with him, he had handled a move from across the country and was having a hard time.
Meanwhile, in regard to Tate, society is told over and again how “big” he is and how his lawyers’ defense is absurd in stating that the “WWF made him do it.”
Both stories sadden me. We have three victims who had much life in them. We also have two killers who have much life in them. And what we are telling these children is that their lives are completely worthless — that they serve as no use to either society or to themselves. By sentencing Tate to life without parole, we permit and enforce that a boy becomes a man in prison. Every first experience he will have, from growing facial and body hair to his first sexual experience, will be had in prison. He will not live in prison. He will die. I do not see why the judge did not stick a lethal injection into Tate’s arm after his decision, because it is not a matter of life in prison, but a matter of death.
I also do not believe that Williams will be sentenced to such a harsh judgment.
Numbers do not lie. U.S. Department of Justice reports in 1999 statistics, there were 3,408 black male inmates per 100,000 black males total in the United States. Compare that to the 417 white male inmates per 100,000 white males. If Williams does get life in prison, I bet his sentence includes parole. After all, 55 percent of parolees were white in 1999, while 44 percent were black. Racism is not hard to find once an effort is made to look for it.
Children should be sentenced as adults depending on their cases; however, they should not be sentenced to life in prison because these killers are babies. Psychological evidence tells society that children do not have the maturity to control their impulses and do not understand the consequences of their actions.
I know that I am not alone in my opinion of Tate’s verdict. Prosecutors and the victim’s mother do not believe an adult prison is the right place for the eighth grader. I only hope that Gov. Jeb Bush revises Tate’s sentence so that America does not forget one more black child.
Alisha Rosas, a junior journalism major, is editor in chief of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at rosasa@ulv.edu.
