I was just kind wondering why minors who commit really horrible crimes get their identify hidden.
I understand like 9ish and under but like 13~ to 17 is very confusing for me
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There are no sub-categories: minors are minors. The intent behind that is to stop them from having their lives ruined right as they’re beginning, during a period where we consider people to have poor judgment. Someone who commits a horrible crime could very well turn their life around, and releasing their identity could work against that.
Because the legal system has determined that minors are not as capable as mature, grown adults of fully comprehending the consequences of their actions. Also because minors are more easily coerced or manipulated into committing crimes. Minors are also more likely to be abused with no way to escape the abuse, which may over time cause a small number of them to develop antisocial tendencies. Finally, minors are also still developing mentally, and the additional consequences of their identity being publicized may cause extreme mental distress and developmental problems due to the lack of opportunity and societal ostracism
I think it matters far more today with the amount of personal information that is available online about almost everyone. When I was very young (1983), a 13 year-old kid in my neighborhood killed his little brother and mother. It made national news, as did his name, because it was so shocking; he was a middle-class kid with a seemingly ideal life and family.
I just tried, and can’t find anything online about him beyond the fact that he was released and enrolled in college in Virginia in 1989. All he had to do was change his name and state, and he is pretty much gone. That can’t really happen today.
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