Franz Kafka wrote The Trial in the mid twenties about a secret court, inaccessible to the common man, who would arrest and proceed against citizens without giving them the information as to what they have done to cause this procedure. The theory, the defendant knows what he has done wrong, it is not necessary that the court spell things out. The Defendant in this work....of fiction?...is forced to proceed from disbelief that he could be charged such, on towards fear and desperation, and finally is forced to defend himself against any and every possible wrong he may have committed in his life. The razor edge of this is, of course, that he had to defend himself without incriminating himself of the crime the court has in mind as well as others. It is a story of the power of the state run amok.
I was just on the Justice4Juveniles.com page, reading some of the topics under consideration for little Jordan. I read the official court documents spelling out the denial of Jordan's application for juvenile court adjudication for his alleged - and I stress, alleged crime of murder. The court denied his application to juvenile court because "his failure to take responsibility for his crime" calls into question the rehabilitative ability of the juvenile system for someone who denies the crime. Of course, this is all pretrial and fails to point out that the defendant has the right to not incriminate himself, be considered innocent until proven guilty, and assumes that should he incriminate himself that would send him on toward the juvenile system. You see, as an adult, he faces life in prison, as a juvenile he is looking at 21 years of age as a max. Seems a fair gamble. Right?
What was something I wondered if could have possibly been true, has come out as fact: The state has decided to try an eleven year old as an adult, and since he refuses to incriminate himself and admit the crime, will not consider this eleven year old as a child. I don't know what more to say on this. I'm lost for words as how this could continue in this country where simple logic ought to win out. I'm dumbfounded as to how this is allowed to continue. And I'm frightened that this sort of foolishness is done by a judge - who we can only presume didn't get his position as a Cracker Jack prize.
Good Luck, America.
8 comments:
this is so ridiculous. where will the courts stop next. I hope this makes it to the Supreme Court so that can finally set some rules for stuff like this.
Hi Doug;
From what I understand, he is currently in the Penn. Supreme Court. I am hoping that this issue is resolved soon. This young man needs his day in - the appropriate - court.
What seems rediculous is that the logic and simplicity of the issue defy the current court's decision. It makes no sense to charge this kid as an adult. Someone needs to quit the self-closeup colonoscopy and start using thier brains.
Let's hope soon.
-randy.
Just the idea that an 11 year old can be considered an adult is ludicrous. The judicial system will lose all credibility if they continue with this farce and prosecute the boy as an adult. My question is why did this matter have to go to the PA Supreme Court, did all of the other courts lose their common sense? JR
Hi JR;
In a word; yes. The more I read on this, the more I find it, as you say, ludicrous. Please continue to watch with me.
Oh, and please excuse the late response; I have company and it is making it difficult to get time for this.
Thanks for the comment;
randy.
Hi Randy,
does "Amnesty International" or "Human Right Watch" or "UNICEF" know about this affair - it is scandalising.
Nikki
Hi Nikki;
I will ask Melissa, but I'm thumping my head here - that is such an excellent question. I will find out. Great idea!!!
randy.
Amnesty International is aware of Jordan Brown's case. In fact, a letter was recently sent to the Attorney General on behalf of Jordan and you can read what was written here:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR51/027/2011/en/f05cb95c-3e6c-4bec-8089-11ba21333b79/amr510272011en.pdf
It is a really interesting letter because it discusses the fact that the U.S. and Somalia are the only two countries that have not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (something that 193 other nations participate in). Article 37(a) requires that no children under the age of 18 (at the time an offense occurs) be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release - something that Jordan Brown is currently facing. If Jordan is found guilty and sentenced to life without parole he will be the youngest person in the world to ever receive this sentence.
At the present time there is no physical evidence directly linking him to the murders. There is evidence suggesting that Kenzie's ex-boyfriend, Adam Harvey, should have been looked into further by police. In the only country willing to sentence a boy Jordan's age to life in prison without the possibility of parole you would think that the investigation into these murders would have been top notch...but it wasn't. Investigators claimed to have spent five hours looking into other leads. Later it was determined that five hours consisted of talking to Adam Harvey and verifying Chris Brown's alibi. Adam Harvey's alibi was confirmed by his father who claimed Adam was home sleeping when the murders happened.
Hi Everyone;
I just learned that I'd somehow gotten my mind screwed around to writing Jordan's name as Jared. Seems a bit more than a typo...
My apologies.
randy.
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