The Fear of Turning 18

Welcome to the republic!

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• unwritten
• law
• republic
• anarchy
• freedom
• adult
• teen

[FuturesPassed]

I had very similar thoughts when I turned that age. As you get past that point in time where one day you're safe and the next you're being judged (I thought time was something that passed gradually, not a change that happens once a year. Birthdays don't bring in a sudden maturity boost.), you'll get used to it. Some don't forget about this moment, though. The time where they were suddenly kicked from legal safety out into the cold arctic winds of society, which change direction on a whim.

[gotilk]

A jury can set a man free in spite of overwhelming evidence and even the law itself. But judges will never tell you this and no-one is required to tell you this at any point during the process of becoming a juror or being a juror(not even the defendant's attorney). But a jury has "the right to acquit, even if the verdict is contrary to the law under which the defendant is accused, is unjust, or that exigent circumstances justified the actions of the accused and the courts MUST abide".

Awesome.

[PocketFire]

thats not irony at all idiot

[PocketFire]

terrible video mac is stupid

[HeadCrabMK4]

thank you, Mac.

Its coming ever closer for me, and I can't hide behind it anymore, and I feel that the way I approach the date will affect the rest of my life...

So, on that note, I'll try to focus on the positives.

[catchafire221]

Yea Mac, you can finally go to jail and get anally raped just like everyone else now. Though, I am one for capital punishment!

[xwidget]

US Supreme Court

Reuters

02/03/2005 James Vicini - Reuters

The US Supreme Court has abolished the death penalty for juveniles, a major victory for opponents of capital punishment in the last country in the world that gave official sanction to the execution of people who commit crimes as minors.

By a 5-4 vote, the high court declared unconstitutional the death penalty those under the age of 18 when they committed their crimes, a decision that could affect more than 70 death row inmates.

[kotaboner42]

wow

this makes me think of a conversation I had with someone yesterday about legality weighing equity rather than rights (point: its not right, but thats how it is)

[ProFriend]

Back in the late 60's kids and politicians pushed for the age of majority to be dropped from 21 to 18. The "logic" was that if you were old enough to be drafted into the Army, then you should be able to vote and have some say in it. Why they couldn't have just given the kids the right to vote without also thrusting them prematurely into the adult world is beyond me.

[ProFriend]

Amen. And you don't have wait until you're 18. NH declares you an adult for criminal purposes at 17. Some law enforcement folks want kids as young as 15 automatically treated as adults. This displays a fundamental lack of understanding of adolescent brain biology. A deep voice and hairy face does not an adult make. It's brain development. Scientific fact - girls' brains don't fully mature until about 22, boys at 23 - give or take a few years. Teenage drug or alcohol use can delay it even more.

[bulafritz]

I considered my high school graduation day more historic. I was still 17 then. Yeah. The day you are pushed off a cliff and told welcome to the real world, young man. Eeek.