Marina+Braine+4A


 * Adolescent Justice**

A court in the New York area is trying seventeen year old, Wesley A. Thomas as an adult with aggravated assault and child endangerment. His seven year old cousin Faheem William's body was found in a plastic bin in the basement of Thomas' home. Found also were Faheem's brothers, one was his twin, Raheem, and the other was four year old Tyrone Hill. The children had been imprisoned in the basement and become malnourished. Wesley A. Thomas' mother, Sherry L. Murphey is also connected to the death and neglect of the boys because she was supposed to be their guardian. Joseph Reese, who is a friend of Murphey's is charged with the sexual assault of the children.

The defendant's statement was that he had been rough housing with Faheem, as they usually did, when he decided to try a wrestling move he had seen on TV. Wesley put his cousin in a head lock and kneed him in the abdomen. He then flipped him over his shoulder. Instead of Faheem's head hitting the bed as it was supposed to it instead bounced of the floor. The defendant then said he ran for help. His mother put ice on Faheem's injuries. He then left for a friend's house and that was the last time he saw his cousin.

Medical findings showed that Wesley's story appeared to be true. The prosecuters argued that Wesley Thomas should be tried as an adult because his actions were "reckless", and a sixteen year old such as himself should have known better than to treat the small child in that way.

Thomas was found guilty in a later hearing, and at age 17 he was moved from the juvenile center where he was being held to section of an adult prison for younger inmates.

I think this case shows that courts are now holding teenagers more responsible for their actions than ever before. They tried Wesley Thomas as an adult even though he was not eighteen, which is a far cry from society's normal trend of treating adolescents more like children. As terrible as the case was I don't think they should have sent Thomas to an adult prison. It seemed unfair since although his actions were careless, he didn't mean any harm and showed remorse for what happened. I think the fact that the other children were found starving in the basement contributed to the severity of the ruling although it was unclear what Wesley's connection to that situation was. I would have certainly punished Wesley, but I think I would just have given him a sentence in a juvenile center instead of sending him to a more dangerous and severe adult prison.

__Citations__

Faheem Williams 1995-2003 [Image]. retrieved November 12, 2009 from []

Funeral [Image]. retreived November 12, 2009 from []

Smothers, R. (2003). Teenager charged in death of boy, 7, will be tried as adult. //The New York Times//, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/05/nyregion/teenager-charged-in-death-of-boy-7-will-be-tried-as-adult.html