&gt;So what is your age limit? If 16, why not 15? And if 15, why not 12, or 10, or 7, or 5?<p>This seems necessarily goading. Why does 18 magically make someone an adult? If anything, we&#x27;ve swung way too far to the left on this issue. A 14 or 15 old person is mature enough to understand complex moral issues. At 15 I drove a 6,000lbs death machine car and had a part time job on top of school.  The idea that I didn&#x27;t understand rape or murder was wrong at that age is asinine.  I&#x27;d say high school age is fair game for serious prison time for serious offenses.<p>Here in Chicago a lot of our shooters are 15-17. These aren&#x27;t innocent children, but fairly serious criminals with nothing but a life of crime ahead of them. Catching them early has potential for betterment compared to leaving them in the loving arms of the gang system and more or less guaranteeing the further victimization of others.